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President  Lincoln  and  his  son  Thaddeus. 


LINCOLN  IN  STORY 


The  Life  of  the  Martyr-President 
told  in  Authenticated  Anecdotes 


EDITED    BY 

SILAS   G.    PRATT 


IL LUSTRA  TED 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

IQ03 


Copyright,   1901, 
By    D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY. 


DEDICATED    TO 

WILLIAM    CHILDS,  Jr. 

OF   BASKING  RIDGE, 
NEW   JERSEY. 


INTRODUCTION 


When  a  boy,  the  writer  listened  to  the  sturdy 
eloquence  of  Lincoln.  He  was  in  the  old  "  Wig- 
wam "  at  Chicago  when  Lincoln  was  nominated 
for  the  presidency,  and  witnessed  the  frantic  dem- 
onstration of  enthusiasm  when  the  rails  he  had 
split  were  produced  in  the  convention.  Later  he 
saw  Lincoln's  face,  in  the  silence  and  calmness  of 
lasting  repose,  after  the  assassin  had  accomplished 
his  death.  These  small  personal  associations  have 
strengthened  the  writer's  feeling  that  the  greater 
the  intimacy  with  Lincoln's  life  which  one  can  gain, 
the  stronger,  better,  and  more  humane  one  may 
become. 

The  memories  of  such  a  pure,  unselfish,  and 
honest  character  will  form  a  shield  for  the  indi- 
vidual and  a  bulwark  for  a  nation. 

Nearly  every  Life  of  the  Martyr  President,  or 
Book  of  Recollections,  so  far  published,  has  con- 
tained some  anecdotes  which  have  given  us  an  occa- 
sional glimpse  into  the  realms  of  his  great  soul — a 
rare  gem,  disclosing  the  prismatic  colors  of  a  cos- 
mic nature — but  no  volume  has  been  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  narratives. 


vi  LINCOLN   IN  STORY 

The  great  interest  shown,  especially  by  the 
younger  generation,  in  the  fugitive  Lincoln  stories 
which  have  appeared  in  various  magazines  and 
journals  from  time  to  time,  no  less  than  the  wri- 
ter's personal  enjoyment  of  those  found  scattered 
through  the  larger  works,  as  well  as  the  hope  of  in- 
spiring additional  interest  in  the  study  of  his  more 
complete  history,  has  been  the  incentive  of  this 
compilation. 

It  is  also  a  pleasure  to  record  the  statements  of 
the  artist  B.  F.  Carpenter,  who  for  six  months  lived 
at  the  White  House  with  Lincoln;  the  Hon.  Wil- 
liam H.  Seward,  his  Secretary  of  State;  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bristow,  of  ISew  York,  that  they  never 
heard  the  President  tell  any  anecdote  which  could 
not  have  been  repeated  with  propriety  in  the  pres- 
ence of  ladies,  thus  indicating  that  the  habits  ac- 
quired "  on  the  circuit  "  in  Illinois  had  been  out- 
grown in  the  more  serious  and  lofty  ideals  of  the 
statesman. 

While  these  stories  do  not  offer  a  complete 
life  history,  they  are  presented  in  chronological 
order,  as  far  as  possible,  and  the  salient  points  of 
Lincoln's  life  are  briefly  mentioned,  thus  forming 
a  warp  upon  which  the  various  anecdotes  are 
woven.  The  book,  therefore,  offers  a  biography  in 
story  form  which  it  is  hoped  will  prove  of  interest 
to  older  as  well  as  younger  readers,  and  of  value  to 
private  and  public  libraries  as  well  as  to  school  li- 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

braries  and  reading  circles,  since  I  believe  there 
lias  been  no  such  consecutive  presentation  of  Lin- 
coln's life  through  the  medium  of  anecdotes. 

Many  stories  are  quoted  as  told  by  individuals, 
and  frequently,  the  forms  of  speech,  quaint  and 
full  of  "  local  color,"  are  less  elegant,  perhaps,  than 
true. 

It  has  seemed  to  the  writer,  in  compiling  these 
narratives,  that  a  new  estimate  of  Lincoln's  char- 
acter was  brought  out;  that  the  stature  of  good- 
ness was  increased  far  beyond  that  of  even  our 
great  men ;  that  the  humanity,  tenderness,  love  of 
mankind,  willingness  to  help,  and  joy  in  making 
others  happy,  was  indeed  godlike;  added  to  this, 
the  spirit  of  toleration  and  forbearance  exercised 
toward  his  enemies,  and  we  realize  the  truthful- 
ness of  John  Hay's  estimate  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Herndon: 

"  I  consider  Lincoln's  republicanism  incarnate, 
with  all  its  faults  and  virtues.  As,  in  spite  of  some 
rudeness,  republicanism  is  the  sole  hope  of  a  sick 
world,  so  Lincoln,  with  all  his  foibles,  is  the  great- 
est character  since  Christ." 

The  stories  have  been  gleaned  from  various 
sources:  notably  from  that  excellent  book  Abra- 
ham Lincoln:  The  True  Story  of  a  Great  Life,  by 
William  H.  Herndon  and  Jesse  W.  Weik,  and 
also  Carpenter's  Recollections,  Chittenden's  Recol- 
lections  of   Lincoln's   Administration,    Wallace's, 


viii  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Rice's,  Arnold's,  Lamon's,  and  Whitney's  books, 
and  a  few  signed  articles  in  newspapers  and  jour- 
nals, such  as  the  ]STew  York  World  and  Home  Jour- 
nal, but  no  anecdote  is  given  which  has  not  been 
carefully  verified. 

If  this  little  volume  gives  to  the  reader  but  a 
tithe  of  the  pleasure  it  has  brought  the  writer  in 
his  labor  of  compilation,  and  if  it  should  awaken  a 
new  interest  in  the  rugged  life  of  the  "  greatest 
character  since  Christ,"  it  will  serve  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  written. 

S.  G.  Pratt. 


C  O  1ST  T  E  N  T  S 


FIRST   PERIOD:   CHILDHOOD 
CHAPTER  I 

PAGES 

The  earliest  days 1-4 

SECOND  PERIOD  :  BOYHOOD 

CHAPTER   II 

The  boy  at  school — His  mother's  death — Kate  Roby  and 
the  spelling  class — Night  studies  by  the  log  fire — 
Studying  on  a  rail  fence 5-10 

THIRD   PERIOD  :  YOUTH 

CHAPTER   III 

Lincoln's  stepsister  meets  with  an  accident — He  insists 
upon  her  telling  the  truth — Lincoln  is  nearly  killed 
at  the  mill  by  his  horse — Captain  Larkins's  fast 
horse 11-15 

CHAPTER  IV 

Lincoln's  great  strength — Plow  he  earned  his  first  dollar, 

as  told  by  himself — He  saves  a  man  from  freezing 

•  to  death — Attacked  by  negroes  on  the   Mississippi 

River 16-22 

ix 


x  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

FOURTH   PERIOD  :  MANHOOD 
CHAPTER  V 

PAGES 

Lincoln  rescues  the  pet  dog — Begins  work  for  himself — 
Builds  a  log  house  and  splits  rails — Again  goes  to 
New  Orleans — An  exciting  adventure — Lincoln  helps 
to  save  the  lives  of  three  men 23-30 

CHAPTER  VI 

Lincoln  and  the  "  Clary's  Grove  boys " — His  wrestling 
match  with  Jack  Armstrong — Lincoln  walks  six  miles 
to  return  six  cents — He  "  chops  up  "  a  house  for 
a  barefooted  man — Elected  captain  in  the  "  Black 
Hawk  "  War — How  he  managed  to  get  his  company 
"  endwise  " — Lincoln  saves  the  life  of  a  defenseless 
Indian 31-39 

CHAPTER   VII 

Enters  into  politics  and  gets  all  but  three  votes  in  New 
Salem — Studies  law  barefooted  on  a  wood-pile — Lin- 
coln cradles  wheat  to  win  votes — Story  of  Lincoln's 
betrothal  to  Anne  Rutledge — Her  sudden  death  nearly 
unseats  Lincoln's  reason — Elected  to  the  Legislature 
— The  lightning  rod  and  Eorquier's  guilty  con- 
science            40-49 

FIFTH   PERIOD :  THE   LEGISLATOR-THE 
LAWYER 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Joshua  Speed's  story  of  Lincoln's  first  appearance  as  a 
lawyer  in  Springfield — Campaign  expenses,  seventy- 
five  cents — Demands  free  speech  for  a  friend — Wins 
a  farmer's  wife  with  stories,  while  his  opponent 
milked  her  cow — Lends  a  poor  acquaintance  his  horse 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGES 

to  locate  land — Rescues  a  pig — "  An  almighty  small 
crop  of  fight " — The  old  blue  sock  and  Government 
money — The  wild  boar  story  and  the  unjust  judge — 
Lincoln's  "  Slow  Horse  "  story — Lincoln  marries — 
Partner  of  Logan — Of  Herndon — Makes  speeches  for 
Clay — Elected  to  Congress— His  eloquent  appeal  saves 
two  young  men  from  committing  a  dishonest  act    .     50-69 

CHAPTER   IX 

Lincoln  carries  a  little  girl's  trunk  to  the  station — His 
little  boy  runs  naked  from  his  bath — The  widow's 
pension  case — "  Skin  Wright  and  Close  " — Lincoln 
studies  poetry — He  gives  a  mean  lawyer  some  good 
advice — Gives  his  opponents  their  case — His  defense 
'  of  William  Armstrong 70-82 


SIXTH   PERIOD  :  THE   STATESMAN 

CHAPTER  X 

Lincoln  again  enters  politics — His  anti-Nebraska  speech 
— Chosen  to  answer  Douglas — Assists  in  organizing 
the  Republican  party — An  audience  of  two — Chal- 
lenges "  the  Little  Giant  "  to  debate — Speech  on  the 
Declaration  of  Independence — The  question  which 
defeated  him  for  the  Senate— The  "  bulwark  of  lib- 
erty "  speech — Nominated  and  elected  President — 
Prophetic  soliloquy — He  leaves  Springfield — The  plot 
to  assassinate  him  at  Baltimore       ....     83-103 

SEVENTH   PERIOD  :  THE   PRESIDENT 

CHAPTER  XI 

Events  leading  up  to  the  great  civil  war — Treason  in  the 
Cabinet  of  President  Buchanan — Secession  of  the 
Southern  States — Ex-Senator  Dawes  describes  Lin- 
coln's arrival   in  Washington — Loyalty    of   General 


xii  LINCOLN   IN  STORY 

PAGES 

Scott — Firing  on  Fort  Sumter — Call  for  seventy-five 
thousand  troops — Massachusetts  regiment  mobbed  in 
Baltimore — Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  Massachu- 
setts troops  defend  the  Capitol — The  great  uprising 
of  the  North — Douglas's  loyalty — His  famous  speech 
— Lincoln  opposes  General  Scott's  plan  of  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run — Defeat  of  the  Union  army      .        .     104-114 

CHAPTER  XII 

The  sleeping  sentinel  and  the  President — Lincoln  visits 
the  condemned  soldier  and  pardons  him-— The  sen- 
tinel becomes  a  hero  in  battle,  and  dies  a  glorious 
death 115-128 

CHAPTER  XIII 

"  A  little  more  light  and  a  little  less  noise  " — Lincoln's 
"  Cheese  Box  " — The  President's  experience  as  a  boat- 
man on  the  Mississippi  gives  us  the  Monitor  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  entire  naval  board — Battle  of  the  Moni- 
tor and  Merrimac — Badly  scared  millionaires  of  New- 
York  rebuffed  by  the  President — "  The  girl  with  a 
singing  in  her  head  " — A  mysterious  Englishman  ad- 
vances five  million  dollars  to  the  Government    .     129-148 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Lincoln's  "  leg  cases  " — He  dismisses  a  Union  officer  for 
treasonable  language — The  widow  and  her  wounded 
son — How  Lincoln  "  plowed  around  "  the  Governor  — 
The  presidential  "  chin-fly  "  story — Making  a  minister 
out  of  mud — Lincoln  writes  a  pardon  while  in  bed — 
The  sick  drummer  boy — The  poor  woman  and  her 
two  sons 149-166 

CHAPTER  XV 

"It  was  the  baby  did  it" — The  President  ejects  an  inso- 
lent officer — A  Union  officer  dismissed  by  Stanton  for 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGES 

speaking  in  favor  of  McClellan  restored  by  Lincoln 
— At  the  battle  of  Fort  Stevens  Lincoln  obeys  a  lieu- 
tenant— Sitting  for  his  portrait — He  repeats  passages 
from  Shakespeare — "  Why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal 
be  proud?" — Lincoln's  angry  reply  to  Joseph  Medill 
and  his  Chicago  friends         .....     167-181 

CHAPTER  XVI 

SHORT    STORIES,    IDEAS,    AND    QUOTATIONS 

Lincoln's  own  estimate  of  his  mental  powers — Sentence  in 
Calhoun's  speech — General  Grant's  peculiar  whisky 
His  reply  to  a  titled  applicant — Canvased  hams — 
The  jack-knife  story — Brigadiers  and  horses — Size  of 
Confederate  army — "  There's  one  of  my  children  isn't 
dead  yet  " — The  strict  judge — "  On  the  Lord's  side  " 
The  henpecked  husband — "  How  many  legs  will  a 
sheep  have  1 " — The  three  pigeons  on  a  fence — "  Not 
rebels,  but  Confederates "      .         .  .         .     181-190 

CHAPTER   XVII 

The  complaining  Governor  and  the  squealing  boy — "  By 
Jingo !  Butler  or  no  Butler,  here  goes  " — Lincoln 
tells  a  story  to  General  Grant — Gives  freedom  to  many 
imprisoned  for  resisting  the  draft — The  Gettysburg 
address 191-200 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

Lincoln's  triumph 

Second  inauguration — The  President  at  Petersburg  is 
mistaken  for  a  rebel — The  Confederate  Government 
destroyed — Lincoln's  entry  into  Richmond — General 
Pickett's  wife  and  the  President — His  last  official 
act  was  to  save  a  life — His  assassination — His  Code 
of  War  adopted  at  the  Peace  Conference  at  The 
Hague 201-214 


xiv  LINCOLN  IN   STORY 

CHAPTER  XIX 

AFTERWARD 

PAGES 

A  personal  experience  at  a  little  village  in  the  heart  of 

Switzerland 215-217 

APPENDIX 

Battles  and  great  events  of  the  civil  war,  arranged  in 

chronological  order 218-224 


LIST  OF  FULL-PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGE 


President  Lincoln  and  his  son  Thaddeus 


•  Frontispiece 

House    near    Farmington,    Illinois,    in   which    Thomas 
Lincoln  died      ...... 


Mr.  Lincoln's  Springfield  law  office  in  1839  . 

The  Lincoln  residence,  Springfield 

Portrait  of  Lincoln,  taken  in  1860 

The  Monitor  attacking  the  Merrimac     . 

Facsimile    of    draft    of    the    Emancipation    Proclama 


tion 


Statue  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago 


38 
62 

74 

94 

138 

152 
212 


Acknowledgment  is  made  to  Jesse  W.  Weik,  Esq.,  joint  author 
with  the  late  William  H.  Herndon  of  "Abraham  Lincoln,  the 
True  Story  of  a  Great  Life,"  for  the  use  of  certain  illustrations. 


XV 


LINCOLN   IN    STORY 


FIEST  PERIOD:   CHILDHOOD 

(1809-1816) 


CHAPTER  I 

"  God  bless  my  mother !    All  I  am,  or  all  I  hope  to  be,  I 
owe  to  her." — Lincoln. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  February  12, 
1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  in  a  little 
log  house  such  as  all  the  pioneers  of  the  Western 
States  built  for  themselves;  with  no  flooring  but 
the  earth,  no  paper  to  cover  the  logs,  and  with 
but  the  most  primitive  furniture,  such  as  they 
themselves  could  make,  the  place  formed  less  a 
residence  for  comfort  than  a  refuge  against  the 
storms  of  rain  in  summer  and  snow  and  frost  in 
winter.  They  lived  in  the  open  air,  in  the  forest, 
or  the  field;  the  log  house  was  simply  a  place  to 
sleep  in,  secure  from  the  attacks  of  wild  animals 
or  venomous  reptiles. 

Here  it  was  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was 
soon  nicknamed  "  Abe,"  passed  the  first  seven 
years  of  his  life. 

1  1 


2  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

It  was  here  that  his  mother,  impressed  with 
the  great  importance  of  an  education  for  her  boy, 
taught  him  to  read  and  write,  there  being  no 
school  in  that  thinly  settled  region.  She  instilled 
into  his  budding  mind  that  intense  desire  for 
knowledge  and  zeal  for  study  which  character- 
ized and  influenced  him  throughout  his  entire 
life;  and  if  the  poverty  which  burdened  them 
and  the  hardships  they  endured  claim  our  sym- 
pathies, the  outdoor  life,  the  work  in  the  field,  or 
chopping  wood,  the  hunting,  fishing,  planting,  and 
harvesting,  conduced  to  a  strong  and  vigorous 
physical  growth  which  was  in  some  measure  a 
compensation.  It  was  this  life,  with  its  freedom 
and  the  continual  and  forced  intimacy  with  a  new 
and  uncultivated  country,  as  well  as  the  struggle 
for  existence,  which  made  little  "  Abe  "  such  a 
perfect  child  of  nature. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  devotion,  affec- 
tionate and  thoughtful  spirit,  that  guarded  the 
childhood  days  of  little  "  Abe  "  lent  a  halo  of 
glory  to  the  humble  home,  and  clothed  the  rude 
life  with  a  charm  which  left  an  undying  impres- 
sion upon  the  boy.  It  grew  stronger  as  he  reached 
manhood,  and  this  mother-love,  so  full  of  "  the 
milk  of  human  kindness,"  blossomed  out  and 
found  its  full  fruitage  in  the  emancipation  of  a 
race  and  the  glorification  of  a  nation. 

When    "  Abe "   was   seven   years   of   age   his 


FIRST  PERIOD:    CHILDHOOD  3 

parents  moved  from  Kentucky  to  Indiana  in  a 
"  Hoosier  "  wagon  drawn  by  two  horses.  There 
being  no  railroads  in  those  days,  the  emigration  to 
the  Western  States  was  accomplished  chiefly  in 
covered  wagons  which  took  on  the  name  "  Hoo- 
sier "  for  the  reason  that  they  originated  in  In- 
diana, the  "  Hoosier  "  State.  These  vehicles  were 
usually  constructed  from  the  long  box  farm-wagon 
used  for  carrying  grain;  along  the  sides  of  the 
wagon  box  long  hoops  were  fastened  and  bent; 
over  these,  canvas  or  other  cloth  was  spread  and 
fastened  tight  at  the  sides,  thus  forming  a  sort  of 
rounded-top  tent.  Into  this  kind  of  tented  con- 
veyance the  Lincoln  family  placed  their  effects, 
sleeping  at  night  in  the  wagon  and  taking  refuge 
in.  it  from  the  heat  of  the  sun  or  rain-storms.  It 
was  a  common  sight,  even  as  late  as  1860,  to  see 
on  nearly  every  road  leading  westward,  long  lines 
of  these  tented  "  Hoosier  "  wagons  moving  over 
hill,  through  forest,  fording  streams,  or  threading 
across  prairies  following  the  "  Star  of  Empire  "  to 
the  Mississippi  River,  and  beyond  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains    and    California. 

Little  "  Abe  "  no  doubt  enjoyed  this  moving 
life,  and  found  delight  in  driving  the  horses  and 
seeing  the  new  country. 

During  these  first  seven  years  the  boy  not  only 
learned  to  work  and  was  inured  to  hardships;  he 
had  also  amusements  of  a  rough  but  healthy  sort. 


4  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

He  played  with  a  favorite  hunting  dog,  chased 
butterflies  in  summer,  built  little  mud  dams  across 
the  brooks,  and  sometimes  accompanied  his  father 
on  the  hunt. 

The  voices  of  nature  were  continually  whisper- 
ing in  his  ears.  The  weird  song  of  the  forest,  the 
trees  swaying  in  the  breeze  or  bending  in  the 
storm,  the  wild  moaning  of  the  cold  winter  wind, 
the  silent  fall  of  the  snow  for  days,  when  they 
were  shut  in  from  the  world,  exercised  an  awe- 
inspiring  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  wondering 
boy,  and  produced  a  feeling  of  reverence  for  the 
unseen  hand  which  caused  them. 

Little  "  Abe  "  returned  his  mother's  affection, 
was  always  willing  to  do  any  work  required,  and, 
responding  to  the  magical  influence  of  gentleness 
and  love,  learned  thus  early  to  do  his  duty  cour- 
ageously and  honestly,  regardless  of  personal  com- 
fort or  pain. 

In  spite  of  their  great  poverty  and  rude  home, 
little  "  Abe  "  flourished,  grew  strong  and  full  of 
exuberant  boyish  spirit.  His  habit  of  going  bare- 
footed a  good  portion  of  the  year  no  doubt  con- 
tributed something  to  his  health,  and  thus  we 
may  think  of  his  childhood  as  having  been  spent 
happily  as  well  as  usefully. 


SECOND  PERIOD:   BOYHOOD 

(1816-1819) 


CHAPTER  II 

The  boy  at  school — Kate  Roby  and  the  spelling  class — Night 
studies  by  the  log  fire — Studying  on  a  rail  fence. 

The  Lincoln  family  settled  on  Pigeon  Creek, 
Indiana,  in  the  spring  of  1816,  the  father  build- 
ing a  log  hut  open  on  one  side  and  without  a  floor. 
The  nearest  village  where  there  was  a  post-office 
or  store  was  Gentryville.  Two  years  after  they 
located  there,  a  terrible  disease,  called  the  "  milk- 
sick,"  caused  the  death  of  many  people  as  well  as 
cattle  and  calves.  Abraham's  mother  died  of  that 
disease,  as  did  also  an  uncle  and  aunt  who  lived 
near  by  (1818).  About  a  year  after  his  mother's 
death  his  father  married  again,  and  brought  home 
a  very  kind-hearted  and  good  woman  who  did  all 
she  could  to  make  little  "  Abe's  "  life  happy  and 
useful.  She  soon  became  very  fond  of  him,  and, 
many  years  after,  when  he  had  become  a  famous 
man,  she  said  "  he  was  the  best  and  most  obedient 
boy  she  ever  knew."    It  was  this  good  stepmother 

5 


6  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

who  influenced  the  father  to  let  Abraham  attend 
school,  which  he  did  for  a  few  weeks  during  the 
winter  of  1819.  But  he  studied  at  home  as  well 
as  at  school,  and  soon  became  the  best  speller  in 
the  class. 

The  next  winter  he  also  had  a  few  weeks  at 
school;  but  altogether  he  had  in  his  whole  life 
not  more  than  four  months  at  school.  However, 
he  was  so  eager  to  learn,  and  studied  and  read  so 
industriously  every  minute  he  could  find  time, 
that  he  finally  became  one  of  the  wisest  and  most 
renowned  men  of  his  age. 

During  the  short  time  he  attended  school  a 
little  incident  occurred  which  showed  Lincoln's 
kindly  disposition  to  help  others,  even  at  the  early 
age  of  ten. 

One  day  in  the  spelling  class  the  teacher,  a 
Mr.  Crawford,  gave  out  the  word  "  defied." 

The  first  one  spelled  it  d-e-f-y-e-d;  the  second 
also  made  a  mistake,  and  then  it  came  the  turn 
of  Kate  Roby,  a  little  girl  who  was  standing,  op- 
posite to  Lincoln,  in  the  line  on  the  other  side  of 
the  schoolroom. 

She  began  d-e-f-,  and  was  just  about  to  say 
"  y  "  when  she  glanced  at  Lincoln,  who  had  been 
closely  watching  her.  He  had  on  a  broad  grin 
and  pointed  with  one  hand  to  his  eye;  the  little 
girl  quickly  guessed  his  meaning  and  spelled  it 
correctly  with  an  "  i." 


SECOND   PERIOD:    BOYHOOD  7 

It  was  while  going  to  this  school  that  he 
composed  many  verses  and  rhymes.  One  of  these 
rhymes  was  as  follows : 

"  Good  boys  who  to  their  books  apply 
Will  all  be  great  men  by  and  by." 

Our  beloved  poet  Longfellow  must  have 
thought  of  men  like  Lincoln  when  he  wrote  this 

"  Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time." 

His  Night  Studies  by  the  Log  Fire 

"  Diligence  is  genius." — Bach. 

"  Three  fourths  of  genius  is  hard  work." — Robert  Collyer. 

While  living  at  Gentryville  Abraham's  father 
built  another  log  house,  enclosed  on  all  sides,  but 
they  were  so  very  poor  they  could  not  afford  to 
have  candles  at  night.  However,  they  had  a  big 
fireplace,  which  was  built  of  bricks,  at  one  end  of 
the  log  house,  and  Abraham  soon  found  a  way 
to  make  a  light  by  which  he  could  read  and 
study. 

He  used  to  go  out  and  get  some  logs  of  dry 
wood  and  pile  them  on  the  fire;  then  they  would 
blaze  up  brightly  and  shed  a  strong  light  over 
the  room.  Abraham  would  then  lie  down  flat 
on    the    floor,    with    his    book    in    front    of    him, 


8  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

before  the  hearth,  and  thus  resting  on  his 
stomach,  his  head  upon  his  hand,  he  would  read 
and  study. 

In  this  way  he  read  many  times  over  the  life 
of  Washington,  the  Bible,  .zEsop's  Fables,  and 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

It  was  before  the  log  fire,  night  after  night, 
that  Lincoln  in  this  manner  studied  his  arith- 
metic, writing  his  sums  with  a  piece  of  charcoal 
upon  a  large  wooden  shovel  they  happened  to  have 
in  the  house  at  the  time.  After  covering  it  all 
over  with  examples,  he  would  take  his  jack-knife 
or  a  plane  and  shave  it  off  clean,  ready  for  the 
next  night's  work. 

Paper  at  that  time  was  very  expensive,  and 
a  slate  cost  more  than  they  could  afford  to  pay, 
so  Abraham  used  the  wooden  shovel  for  a  slate, 
and  for  pencil  (which  they  also  could  not  buy), 
he  used  a  piece  of  charcoal  picked  up  from  the 
fireplace.  Thus,  in  spite  of  poverty,  he  succeeded 
in  studying,  and  made  rapid  progress. 

Sometimes,  when  the  shovel  was  not  to  be  had, 
he  wrote  his  figures  on  the  logs  along  the  sides  of 
the  house,  on  the  door-posts,  and  any  wood-work 
where  his  charcoal  could  be  used. 

Thus  his  determination  to  learn  and  "  be  some- 
body" overcame  the  greatest  difficulties — obstacles 
which  few  boys  would  have  tried  to  overcome. 
This    sublime    will    "  to    do    things,"    and    help 


SECOND  PERIOD:    BOYHOOD  9 

others,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  neighbors, 
and,  despite  his  shabby  clothes,  he  was  greatly 
respected. 

John  Hanks,  who  afterward  worked  with  him 
in  splitting  rails,  tells  us  something  of  the  secret 
of  Lincoln's  education.  He  said:  "  When  Abe 
and  I  returned  from  work,  he  would  get  a  piece 
of  corn  bread,  take  a  book,  and  sit  down  to  read 
even  while  eating;  when  he  had  a  chance,  in  the 
field  or  at  home,  he  would  stop  and  read,  always 
having  some  useful  book  with  him."  This  was 
when  Abraham  was  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Lincoln1  s  Eagerness  to  Learn — Studying  on  a  Rail 
Fence 

Captain  John  Lamar,  who  was  a  very  small 
boy  in  one  of  the  families  where  Lincoln  was  well 
known,  frequently  repeated  the  following  anec- 
dote about  little  "  Abe  "  during  this  period  of  his 
life: 

"  I  was  very  fond  of  riding  with  my  father  to 
mill.  One  very  hot  day  as  we  drove  along  the 
dusty  road  we  saw  a  boy  sitting  on  the  top  rail 
of  an  old-fashioned  rail  fence.  When  we  came 
closer  we  saw  that  the  boy  was  reading,  and  had 
not  noticed  our  approach. 

"My  father  turned  to  me  and  said:  'John, 
look  at  that  boy  yonder,  and  mark  my  words,  he 
will  make  a  smart  man  out  of  himself  some  day. 


10  LINCOLN   IN  STORY 

I  may  not  see  it,  but  you'll  see  if  my  words  don't 
come  true !  ,  " 

That  boy  was  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  pic- 
ture of  the  little  boy,  sitting  on  the  top  of  a  rail 
fence,  so  busy  with  his  reading  that  he  did  not 
even  notice  the  farmer  with  his  wagon  and  horses 
as  they  passed,  shows  that  Lincoln  had  made  the 
whole  world  his  schoolroom,  and  there  was  no 
place  that  he  did  not  find  some  chance  to  study 
and  improve  his  mind. 


//? 


Lines  written  by  Lincoln  on  the  Leaf  of  his  School-book 

in  his  Fourteenth  Year. 

Preserved  by  his  Step-mother. 

Original  in  possession  of  J.  W.  Weik. 


THIRD  PERIOD:   YOUTH 

(1820-1827) 


CHAPTER  III 

Lincoln's  high  sense  of  honor — He  would  not  permit  his  sister 
to  deceive  her  mother — Is  nearly  killed  at  the  mill — Cap- 
tain Larkins's  fast  horse. 

While  still  living  near  Gentryville,  one  morn- 
ing when  Lincoln  was  going  to  work  in  the  woods, 
with  his  ax  over  his  shoulder,  his  stepsister, 
Matilda  Johnson,  who  had  been  forbidden  by  her 
mother  to  follow  him,  slyly,  and  unknown  to  her 
mother,  crept  out  of  the  house  and  ran  after  him. 
Lincoln  was  already  quite  a  long  distance  from 
the  house,  among  the  trees,  following  a  deer  path, 
and  whistling  as  he  walked  along. 

He,  of  course,  did  not  know  the  girl  was  com- 
ing after  him,  and  Matilda  ran  so  softly  that  she 
made  no  noise  to  attract  his  attention.  When  she 
came  close  up  behind  him  she  made  a  quick  spring 
and  jumped  upon  his  shoulders,  holding  on  with 
both  hands  and  pressing  her  knees  into  his  back, 
thus  pulling  him  quickly  down  to  the  ground.  In 
falling,  the  sharp  ax  which  Lincoln  was  carrying 

11 


12  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

fell  also  and  cut  her  ankle  very  badly;  as  the 
blood  ran  out  the  mischievous  Matilda  screamed 
with  pain;  Lincoln  at  once  tore  off  some  cloth  to 
stop  the  blood  from  flowing  and  bound  up  the 
wound  as  well  as  he  could.  Then  taking  a  long 
breath,  he  said: 

"  'Tilda,  I  am  astonished!  How  could  you 
disobey  mother  so  ?  " 

'Tilda  only  cried  in  reply,  and  Lincoln  con- 
tinued: "What  are  you  going  to  tell  mother 
about  getting  hurt?" 

"  Tell  her  I  did  it  with  the  ax,"  she  sobbed. 
"That  will  be  the  truth,  won't  it?"  To  which 
Lincoln  replied  manfully: 

"Yes,  that's  the  truth:  but  it's  not  all  the 
truth.  You  tell  the  whole  truth,  'Tilda,  and  trust 
your  good  mother  for  the  rest." 

So  'Tilda  went  limping  home  and  told  her 
mother  all  the  truth;  and  the  good  woman  felt  so 
sorry  for  her  that  she  did  not  even  scold  her. 

Lincoln  goes  to  Mill  and  is  nearly  killed  by  his 
Horse 

Mr.  Herndon,*  in  his  life  of  Lincoln,  gives  the 
following  account  of  an  accident  that  came  very 

*  Abraham  Lincoln  :  The  True  Story  of  a  Great  Life.  By 
William  H.  Herndon  and  Jesse  W.  Weik.  New  and  revised 
edition,  with  an  introduction  by  Horace  White.  In  two  vol- 
umes. Illustrated,  12mo.  Cloth,  $3.  D.  Appleton  and  Com- 
pany, publishers. 


THIRD  PERIOD:    YOUTH  13 

near  rendering  this  book  an  impossibility.  He 
says: 

"  In  later  years  Mr.  Lincoln  related  the  fol- 
lowing reminiscence  of  his  experience  as  a  miller 
in  Indiana:  One  day,  taking  a  bag  of  corn,  he 
mounted  the  old  flea-bitten  gray  mare  and  rode 
leisurely  to  Gordon's  Mill.  Arriving  somewhat 
late,  his  turn  did  not  come  till  almost  sundown. 
In  accordance  with  the  prevailing  custom  he 
hitched  the  old  mare  to  the  arm,  and  mounting 
it,  commenced  whipping  and  urging  the  animal  on 
to  the  work.  Exclaiming,  '  Get  up,  you  old 
hussy!  '  he  applied  the  lash  with  each  turn  of  the 
arm.  The  old  horse,  finally  resenting  his  frequent 
goadings,  suddenly  interrupted  him  in  the  midst 
of  his  exclamation,  just  as  he  had  cried  out  '  Get 

up,   you '    with    a   well-directed   kick,    which 

struck  him  on  the  forehead  and  instantly  knocked 
him  senseless.  The  miller  rushed  in,  and  picking 
up  the  unconscious  and  bleeding  boy,  whom  he 
thought  dead,  sent  for  his  father.  Old  Thomas 
Lincoln  finally  came  and  loaded  the  lifeless  boy  in 
a  wagon  and  drove  home.  Abe  lay  unconscious  all 
night,  but  at  break  of  day  his  attendants  noticed 
signs  of  returning  life;  the  blood  began  to  flow 
normally,  his  tongue  struggled  to  loosen  itself,  his 
frame  jerked  for  an  instant,  and  he  awoke,  blurt- 
ing out  the  words  '  You  old  hussy!  '  the  latter  half 
of  the  sentence  interrupted  by  the  mare's  kick." 


14:  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

# 

Mr.  Lincoln  considered  this  one  of  the  re- 
markable incidents  of  his  life. 

In  speaking  of  it  (as  he  often  did)  years  after- 
ward, he  explained  the  incident  thus:  "  Just  be- 
fore I  struck  the  old  mare,  my  will,  through  the 
mind,  had  set  the  muscles  of  my  tongue  to  utter 
the  expression,  and  when  her  heels  came  in  con- 
tact with  my  head,  the  whole  thing  stopped  half- 
cocked,  as  it  were,  and  was  only  fired  off  when 
mental  energy  or  force  returned. " 

Captain  Larhins's  Fast  Horse  and  Lincoln's  Humor 

In  the  town,  not  far  from  where  Lincoln  lived, 
was  a  short,  fat  man  called  Captain  Larkins.  He 
was  very  fond  of  boasting.  If  he  bought  a  pair 
of  boots,  he  would  say,  "  They're  the  finest  pair  of 
boots  in  the  town  ";  if  he  got  a  new  wagon,  "  It 
is  the  best  wagon  in  the  settlement  " ;  when  he 
bought  a  new  harness  for  his  horse,  "  It  is  the 
strongest  and  best-made  harness  in  the  place." 
By  his  loud  talk  and  proud  manner  he  made  many 
people  think  he  was  a  great  man.  But  Lincoln 
did  not  like  his  bragging  ways  at  all.  Once  when 
there  was  a  holiday,  and  many  farmers  were  gath- 
ered at  the  store  in  the  village,  Captain  Larkins 
began  to  boast  about  his  horse,  telling  the  crowd 
that  he  had  "  the  best  and  fastest  horse  in  the 
town."  This  he  repeated  several  times,  and  step- 
ping up  to  Lincoln,  shouted  out  in  a  loud  voice 


THIRD  PERIOD:    YOUTH  15 

so  that  all  might  hear  it,  "  I  have  the  best  horse 
in  the  country.  I  ran  him  three  miles  in  nine 
minutes  and  he  never  fetched  a  long  breath.'7 

Lincoln,  then  a  tall  young  man,  six  feet  high, 
looked  down  at  the  fat  little  man,  and  said: 
"  Well,  Larkins,  why  don't  you  tell  us  how  many 
short  breaths  he  drew!  " 

This  raised  a  loud  laugh,  and  Captain  Larkins 
got  angry  and  declared  he'd  fight  "  Abe  "  if  he 
wasn't  so  big.  He  jumped  around  and  made  such 
a  fuss  that  finally  Lincoln  quietly  said,  "  Now, 
Larkins,  if  you  don't  keep  still  I'll  throw  you  in 
that  water." 


CHAPTEE  IV 

Lincoln's  great  strength  and  how  he  earned  his  first  dollar,  as 
told  by  himself — He  saves  a  man  from  freezing  to  death — 
Attacked  by  negroes  on  the  Mississippi  River. 

When  Lincoln  was  seventeen  years  of  age  he 
had  already  attained  his  full  growth,  and  was 
very  tall.  He  hired  out  tcf  a  Mr.  Gentry  to  help 
him  with  a  ferry  across  the  Ohio  River,  receiving 
thirty-seven  cents  a  day  for  his  labor.  While 
thus  working  he  wrote  an  essay  on  the  American 
Government  which  attracted  much  attention  at 
that  time,  and  an  article  on  temperance  which 
was  published  in  an  Ohio  paper. 

"  Abe  "  was  a  very  strong  boy.  It  is  said 
he  could  carry  six  hundred  pounds  at  a  time,  and 
on  one  occasion  he  walked  away  with  a  pair  of 
logs  which  three  robust  men  could  not  handle. 
"  He  could  strike  with  a  maul  a  heavier  blow, 
could  sink  the  ax  deeper  into  the  wood,  than  any 
man  I  ever  saw,"  said  a  gentleman  who  knew  him 
at  that  time. 

It  was  while  employed  at  the  ferry,  or  during 
the  time  when  he  worked  there  (1827),  that  the 
16 


THIRD   PERIOD:    YOUTH  17 

following  incident  occurred,  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
thought  enough  of  to  relate  to  the  members  of 
his  Cabinet  many  years  afterward,  while  he  was 
the  President  of  the  United  States.* 

They  were  in  the  President's  room  at  the 
White  House,  and  talking  over  old  times,  when 
Lincoln  said:  "  Seward,  you  never  heard,  did 
you,  how  I  earned  my  first  dollar?  " 

"  Eo,"  said  Mr.  Seward.  "  I  never  heard  any- 
thing about  it." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  was  about  eighteen  years 
of  age,  and  belonged,  as  you  know,  to  what  they 
call  down  South  the  i  scrubs.'  People  who  do 
not  own  slave  or  land  are  nobody  there;  but  we 
had  raised,  chiefly  by  my  own  labor,  enough  prod- 
uce [corn,  wheat,  turnips,  pumpkins,  eggs,  and 
chickens],  as  I  thought,  to  pay  taking  it  down  the 
river  to  sell  it.  After  much  persuasion  I  got  the 
consent  of  my  mother  to  go,  and  had  built  a  flat- 
boat  large  enough  to  take  a  few  barrels  of  things 
we  had  gathered  to  "New  Orleans.  A  steamer  was 
going  down  the  river  that  morning.  As  we  had 
no  docks  in  those  days  along  the  river,  passengers 
or  freight  for  steamboats  had  to  be  taken  out  in 
little  flatboats. 

"  That  morning  I  went  down  to  the  river  to 


*  Selected  from  Carpenter's  Recollections,  published  by  per- 
mission of  The  Independent. 
2 


18  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

look  over  my  new  boat,  and  wondering  whether  I 
could  make  it  stronger  or  better,  when  two  men 
with  trunks  came  down  to  the  shore  in  carriages, 
and  looking  at  the  different  boats,  picked  out 
mine  and  asked,  '  Who  owns  this  boat  % '  I  an- 
swered modestly,  '  I  do.'  '  Will  you,'  said  one 
of  them,  '  take  us  and  the  trunks  out  to  the 
steamer  ? ' 

"  i  Certainly,'  said  I.  I  was  glad  to  have  the 
chance  of  earning  something,  and  thought  each 
of  them  might  give  me  a  couple  of  '  bits  '  [a 
"  bit  "  was  twelve  and  a  half  cents].  The  trunks 
were  put  on  my  boat,  the  men  seated  themselves 
on  them,  and  I  sculled  them  out  to  the  steamer. 

"  They  got  on  board,  and  I  lifted  the  trunks 
and  put  them  on  deck.  The  steamer  was  about  to 
put  on  steam  again,  when  I  called  out,  '  You 
have  forgotten  to  pay  me.'  Each,  then,  took 
from  his  pocket  a  silver  half-dollar  and  threw  it  in 
the  bottom  of  my  boat.  I  could  scarcely  believe 
my  eyes  as  I  picked  up  the  money.  You  may 
think  it  a  very  little  thing  in  these  days,  and  it 
seems  to  me  now  like  a  trifle,  but  it  was  an 
important  incident  in  my  life.  I  could  hardly 
think  that  the  poor  boy  had  earned  a  dollar 
in  less  than  a  day — that  by  honest  work  I  had 
earned  a  dollar.  The  world  seemed  wider  and 
fairer  before  me.  I  was  a  hopeful  boy  from 
that  time." 


THIRD   PERIOD:    YOUTH  19 

A  Poor  Man  saved  from  Death 

In  this  same  year  (1827),  one  very  cold  night 
in  the  winter,  Lincoln  and  a  friend  were  going 
home  from  Gentryville,  where  they  had  been 
during  the  day,  when  they  found  an  acquaint- 
ance lying  on  the  ground.  He  appeared  to  be 
asleep;  they  could  not  awaken  him,  and  he 
could  not  walk.  He  was  as  helpless  as  a  babe, 
having  been  drinking  so  much  that  he  was  "  dead 
drunk.'7 

Lincoln  said  to  his  companion,  "  Let's  carry 
him  to  Hank's  cabin;  he'll  freeze  to  death  if  we 
leave  him  here." 

But  his  friend  refused  to  help  him,  and  so 
Lincoln  alone  finally  lifted  him  to  his  shoulder 
and  carried  him  a  long  distance,  nearly  a  mile, 
to  the  first  house  on  the  road.  Here  he  warmed 
him  and  brought  him  back  to  consciousness. 

The  poor  man  often  said,  "  Abe  Lincoln's 
strength  and  kindness  saved  my  life." 

In  March,  1828,  Mr.  Gentry,  who  had  em- 
ployed Lincoln  at  his  ferry,  fitted  out  a  boat  with 
grain  and  meat  for  New  Orleans.  His  son  Allen 
was  in  charge,  and  "  Abe  "  was  hired  to  go  along 
as  "  bow "  hand,  his  wages  being  eight  dollars 
per  month.  This  was  a  greai  event  in  his  life 
at  that  time.  He  had  a  chance  to  see  something 
of  the  world. 


20  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Attacked  by  Negroes  on  the  Mississippi 

On  their  way  to  New  Orleans  in  their  raft, 
Lincoln  and  his  companion  floated  down  the  Ohio 
River,  entering  the  Mississippi  at  Cairo.  They 
guided  their  little  craft  during  the  day,  keeping 
clear  of  sand-banks  or  sunken  trees  whose  stumps 
and  roots  sometimes  stood  up  menacingly  above 
the  rushing  waters. 

The  days  usually  passed  quietly,  almost 
dreamily,  as  they  glided  swiftly  down-stream, 
passing  forests,  villages,  farmhouses,  and  "  nod- 
ding sawyers,"  with  now  and  then  a  steamer 
which  would  create  little  billows  that  rocked  them 
gently  up  and  down. 

At  night  they  would  tie  up  at  some  landing 
or  convenient  tree.  It  was  so  warm  they  could 
sleep  without  coverings. 

One  exceedingly  dark  night,  after  they  had 
passed  Natchez,  they  tied  up  at  an  obscure  land- 
ing-place, with  no  habitation  in  sight.  It  was 
just  such  a  place  as  robbers  might  choose  for  way- 
laying their  victims. 

The  clearing  was  covered  with  a  growth  of 
very  tall  grass,  with  a  thick  forest  a  little  dis- 
tance away,  and  any  one  approaching  the  bank 
was  completely  hidden  from  view  until  it  was 
reached. 

Lincoln  and  his  young  friend  were  lying  down, 


THIRD   PERIOD:    YOUTH  21 

but  were  not  yet  asleep,  when  a  stir  in  the  grass 
at  a  little  distance  broke  the  silence  of  the  night. 

"  Listen !  "  whispered  Lincoln,  leaning  for- 
ward on  his  elbow,  and  at  the  same  time  reaching 
out  for  a  big  club  near  him. 

"  Somebody's  coming!  "  softly  answered  his 
companion,  at  the  same  time  bending  forward  and 
peering  into  the  darkness.  There  was  but  a  mo- 
ment of  suspense,  when  several  negroes  sprang 
upon  the  raft. 

"  Strike,  Allen!  "  cried  Lincoln,  as  he  jumped 
to  his  feet  and  knocked  the  first  one  senseless. 
Then  blow  after  blow  followed  quickly,  with  yells 
of  pain,  as  one  after  another  of  their  assailants 
were  hit. 

"  It's  life  or  death,"  shouted  Lincoln  to  his 
companion.  But  Allen  Gentry  needed  no  urging; 
he  had  been  fighting  with  all  his  might,  despera- 
tion and  fear  lending  unusual  power  to  his  amis. 
The  negroes,  evidently  taken  by  surprise  by  the 
vigorous  defense,  and  suffering  from  the  punish- 
ment received,  quickly  ran  off  howling  with  pain. 

"  They  will  be  coming  back  soon  with  more 
of  their  fellows,"  said  Lincoln. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Allen,  "  and  probably  armed 
this  time." 

"  We'd  better  get  away  quick,  for  they'll 
make  mince-meat  of  us  in  revenge  for  the  licking 
we  gave  them,"  said  Lincoln. 


22  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

So  saying,  both  sprang  ashore  and  loosened 
the  raft,  pushing  off  into  the  stream  and  getting 
as  far  away  from  the  bank  as  possible. 

They  were  apprehensive  lest  their  would-be 
robbers,  smarting  from  defeat,  would  collect  more 
men  and  follow  them  down-stream.  After  a 
couple  of  hours,  as  they  heard  nothing  of  their 
assailants,  they  tied  up  again,  but  this  time  on  the 
opposite  bank. 

Meanwhile  the  boys  talked  over  their  en- 
counter, Allen  Gentry  asserting  that  Lincoln's 
tremendous  strength  and  rapidly  delivered  blows 
had  probably  saved  their  lives. 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD 

(1830-1836) 

DEEDS  OF  STRENGTH,   BRAVERY,  AND 
KINDNESS 


CHAPTER  V 

Lincoln  rescues  the  pet  dog — Builds  a  log  house — Splits  rails 
— Again  goes  to  New  Orleans — Returns  to  New  Salem 
— Clerk  for  Mr.  Offut— Helps  to  save  three  men  from 
drowning. 

In  March,  1830,  the  family  moved  from  In- 
diana to  Illinois.  Abraham  was  just  past  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  a  great  tall  man.  The  jour- 
ney was  long  and  tedious,  heavy  rain  and  swollen 
streams  rendering  their  progress  very  slow.  They 
had,  in  front  of  their  covered  wagon,  a  team  of 
eight  oxen  which  Abraham  drove,  and  a  pet  dog 
went  along,  trotting  under  the  wagon  much  of 
the  time. 

One  day  the  little  fellow  fell  behind,  and 
failed  to  catch  up  till  after  they  had  crossed  quite 
a  large  stream.  Then  missing  him,  they  looked 
back,  and  there,  on  the  opposite. bank,  he  stood, 

23 


24  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

whining  and  jumping  about  in  great  distress. 
The  water  was  quite  high  and  running  over 
broken  edges  of  the  ice,  for  it  was  yet  early  in 
the  spring,  and  the  dog  was  airaid  to  cross.  It 
would  not  pay  to  turn  back  and  ford  the  stream 
again,  with  all  those  oxen  and  the  wagon,  just 
to  please  the  dog;  and  so  anxiety  to  hurry  along 
decided  them  to  go  on  and  leave  the  animal  to 
his  fate. 

But  Lincoln  could  not  endure  the  idea  of  leav- 
ing the  little  fellow  behind.  So  he  pulled  off  his 
boots  and  socks,  rolled  up  his  trousers,  and  waded 
across  the  river,  the  cold  water  making  his  feet 
and  legs  ache  terribly.  When  he  got  across,  the 
dog  junrped  up  into  his  face,  licking  it  all  over. 

Lincoln  took  the  little  fellow  up,  put  him 
under  one  arm,  and  carried  him  over  the  stream 
in  triumph.  The  dog's  frantic  leaps  of  joy,  and 
other  signs  of  gratitude,  well  repaid  his  rescuer 
for  the  cold  wetting  and  pain  he  had  suffered; 
when  they  got  across  the  stream  Lincoln  put  on 
his  socks  and  boots  again,  and  the  little  dog  ran 
along  by  his  side,  barking  his  thanks  and  leaping 
up  now  and  then  to  lick  his  hand. 

Abraham  builds  a  Log  House — Begins  work  for 
Himself 

Upon  arriving  in  Illinois  the  family  settled  in 
Mason  County,  five  miles  northwest  of  the  town 


FOURTH  PERIOD:    MANHOOD  25 

of  Decatur,  on  a  bluff  overlooking  the  Sangamon 
River.  The  first  months  were  spent  in  building  a 
log  house,  clearing  a  field,  planting  it,  and  split- 
ting rails  to  fence  in  the  place.  Almost  all  of 
this  work  was  done  by  Abraham,  his  father  doing 
very  little.  Being  now  of  age,  Abraham  (who 
hereafter  we  shall  speak  of  as  Mr.  Lincoln)  sought 
work  for  himself. 

He  split  three  thousand  rails  for  one  man 
alone,  walking  three  miles  every  day  to  his  work. 

In  March  of  the  next  year,  Lincoln,  John 
Hanks,  and  John  Johnson  hired  out  to  a  Mr. 
Denton  Offut  to  make  a  boat  and  take  it  down 
the  river  to  New  Orleans.  Finishing  the  boat  in 
four  weeks,  they  loaded  it  with  pork  in  barrels, 
corn,  and  hogs,  and  reached  a  point  opposite  New 
Salem,  April  19  th,  where  the  boat  struck  on  Rut- 
ledge's  mill-dam. 

Here  it  hung  helplessly  a  day  and  night,  when 
finally  Lincoln's  ingenuity  got  it  over  successfully, 
and  they  floated  down  to  the  Illinois  River,  thence 
into  the  Mississippi,  and  so  reached  New  Orleans. 
It  was  here  that  Lincoln  for  the  second  time  wit- 
nessed the  horrors  of  slavery,  being  present  at  an 
auction  sale  in  which  colored  girls  were  sold  like 
cattle.  He  was  so  disgusted  and  indignant  with 
the  spectacle  that  he  then  took  a  vow  to  work 
with  all  his  might  against  it. 

He  now  returned  to  his  father's  new  home  in 


26  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Coles  County,  Illinois,  and  accepted  a  challenge 
from  a  famous  wrestler,  Daniel  Needham,  going 
to  Wabash  Point,  where  the  contest  took  place. 
Lincoln  came  off  the  victor,  throwing  his  man 
twice,  and  thus  proving  his  superiority  as  an 
athlete  by  exhibiting  powers  of  strength  and  en- 
durance of  which  he  was  always  proud. 

Returning  to  New  Salem,  he  took  any  work 
which  offered,  became  clerk  of  an  election  board, 
and  made  a  great  many  friends  by  telling  funny 
stories.  Finally,  Mr.  Denton  OfTut  hired  him  to 
take  charge  of  his  store. 

It  was  during  this  time,  in  the  spring  of  1831, 
before  starting  for  New  Orleans  with  his  boat, 
that  Lincoln  played  a  prominent  part  in  an  affair 
that  came  very  near  ending  in  the  death  of  three 
men.  A  Mr.  John  Roll,  who  lived  in  New  Salem 
at  the  time,  witnessed  the  incident,  and  frequently 
related  it  afterward. 

Mr.  John  Roll's  Narrative 

An  exciting  adventure — Lincoln   helps  to  save  the  lives  of 
three  men. 

"  It  was  in  the  spring  after  the  deep  snow, 
Walter  Carman,  John  Seamon,  and  myself  had 
helped  '  Abe  '  in  building  the  boat  for  Mr.  Offut, 
and  when  he  had  finished,  we  went  to  work  to  make 
a  '  dugout  '  or  canoe  to  be  used  as  a  small  boat 
with  the  flatboat.     We  found  a  good  log  quite  a 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  27 

ways  up  the  river,  and  with  our  axes  went  to  work 
under  Lincoln's  direction." 

The  river  was  very  high  and  running  swiftly. 
After  the  "  dugout  "  was  ready  they  took  it  to 
the  edge  of  the  water  and  made  ready  to  push  her 
off,  when,  as  the  boat  struck  the  water,  Carman 
and  Seamon  jumped  into  it,  each  in  a  spirit  of 
fun,  wanting  to  get  the  first  ride.  As  they  shot 
out  from  the  shore  they  found  they  were  unable 
to  make  headway  against  the  strong  current,  and 
Lincoln  shouted,  "  Head  up  the  stream  and  work 
back  to  shore!  " 

But  against  the  strong  current  they  could  do 
nothing.  At  last  they  began  to  pull  for  the  wreck 
of  an  old  flatboat  which  had  sunk  in  the  river  a 
long  time  before,  leaving  a  pole  sticking  out  of 
the  water.  Just  as  they  reached  it  Seamon  made 
a  grab  and  caught  hold  of  the  pole;  but  the  canoe 
turned  over,  throwing  Carman  into  the  water, 
leaving  the  other  man  hanging  to  the  pole. 
Quicker  than  it  takes  to  tell,  the  swift  current 
carried  Carman  down-stream. 

Lincoln  raised  his  voice  above  the  roar  of  the 
water,  and  shouted:  "  Swim  for  the  elm-tree  down 
there!  You  can  catch  it!  Don't  get  excited! 
Catch  hold  of  a  branch!  " 

The  tree  stood  out  in  the  stream,  which  by 
the  flood  had  risen  up  to  its  branches,  and  Car- 
man, being  a  good  swimmer,  caught  a  branch  and 


28  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

pulled  himself  up  out  of  the  water,  which  was 
very  cold,  and  had  almost  chilled  him  to  death. 
There  he  sat  in  the  tree  shivering  and  chattering 
like  a  monkey. 

Lincoln,  seeing  that  Carman  was  safe  for  the 
present,  now  called  out  to  Seamon:  "  Let  go  the 
pole,  and  swim  to  the  tree.  You  can't  hang  on 
there  much  longer,  and  if  you  do  you'll  be  too 
weak  to  swim!  " 

Seamon  didn't  like  to  get  into  the  cold  water, 
but  he  knew  Lincoln  was  right,  and  so  he  let  go 
and  dropped  into  the  river.  Lincoln  called  out: 
"  That's  right !  Keep  your  breath!  Don't  worry; 
you'll  get  there  all  right!  There  now,  look  out! 
Catch  the  branch!  "  Just  as  he  got  to  the  tree 
he  reached  out  for  it,  but  missed. 

Lincoln,  and  several  who  had  gathered  on  the 
bank,  held  their  breath  in  horror,  for  the  man 
went  under  the  water  and  they  thought  he  would 
drown.  But  he  came  up  again  and  made  one 
more  desperate  effort,  which  was  successful,  and 
he  soon  climbed  up  into  the  tree  beside  Carman. 

Things  were  getting  exciting  now,  and  nearly 
all  the  people  in  the  village  came  running  down 
to  the  place;  the  two  men  were  in  the  tree,  wet 
and  freezing,  surrounded  by  a  raging  stream,  the 
boat  lost. 

Lincoln  called  out,  "  Keep  up  your  spirits, 
boys,  and  we'll  save  you."    And  again:  "  Try  and 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  29 

keep  your  legs  and  arms  moving  as  much  as  you 
can!     Rub  yourselves  so  as  not  to  get  cold!  " 

Lincoln  now  got  a  rope  and  tied  it  to  a  big 
log  that  lay  near  by.  He  called  everybody  to 
come  and  help  roll  it  into  the  water,  and  after 
this  was  done,  he,  with  the  help  of  several  others, 
towed  it  some  distance  up  the  stream. 

A  daring  young  fellow  by  the  name  of  "  Jim  " 
Dorrell  then  took  his  seat  on  the  log,  and  it  was 
pushed  out  into  the  river. 

Lincoln  said:  "  Now,  Jim,  we'll  let  you  float 
down  to  the  tree,  and  then  you  are  to  hang  on  to 
the  branches  and  let  Carman  and  Seamon  get  on; 
then  we'll  draw  you  all  ashore." 

Lincoln  directed  the  log  so  that  it  came  to 
the  tree  just  as  was  intended;  but  "  Jim,"  in  his 
haste  to  help  his  friends,  fell  a  victim  to  his  own 
good-will.  Making  a  frantic  grab  at  a  branch, 
he  raised  himself  foolishly  off  the  log,  which  was 
at  once  swept  from  under  him  by  the  swift  cur- 
rent, and  he  was  soon  perching  in  the  tree  with 
the  other  two  men. 

The  excitement  on  shore  rapidly  increased; 
here  were  three  men  now  to  be  saved  instead  of 
two. 

Lincoln  then  pulled  the  log  back  up-stream, 
and,  getting  another  piece  of  rope,  called  out  to 
the  men  in  the  tree: 

"  Catch  this  if  you  can  when  I  throw  it  to 


30  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

you,  for  I  am  coming  myself  this  time."  He 
then  took  his  seat  on  the  log  and  said:  "  Now 
push  it  off  as  far  as  you  can,  and  let  the  rope  be 
loose  until  I  reach  the  tree;  then  don't  pull  on 
it  tight,  but  be  ready  to  do  as  I  tell  you." 

Lincoln  soon  reached  the  tree,  and,  keeping  a 
cool  head,  he  threw  the  rope  over  the  end  of  a 
broken  limb  and  caught  the  other  end  in  his 
hands.  Then  he  pulled  the  rope  tight,  and  pretty 
soon  had  the  log  and  himself  up  under  the  tree 
where  the  men  wTere  sitting. 

"  Now,  carefully,"  said  Lincoln,  "  one  at  a 
time.  I'll  hold  the  log  steady,  while  you  drop 
down  on  her." 

The  men  were  so  cold  and  benumbed  already 
that  they  could  hardly  move,  but  they  soon  man- 
aged to  get  on  the  log  with  Lincoln. 

Then  he  called  to  those  on  shore:  "Hold  the 
rope  tight  now';  we'll  swing  off,  and  the  current 
will  bring  us  pretty  close  to  the  bank."  They 
shouted  "  All  right!  "  and  Lincoln  let  go  the  rope 
which  was  around  the  tree. 

It  proved  exactly  as  he  had  said;  the  log,  with 
all  four  men  on  it,  floated  over  to  the  shore,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  they  were  safe  on  land.  The 
excited  people,  who  had  watched  the  brave  act, 
now  broke  into  loud  cheers  for  "  Abe  "  Lincoln; 
and  he  at  once  became  a  hero  along  the  Sangamon 
River,  where  they  never  tired  of  telling  the  story. 


FRONTIER  EPISODES 


CHAPTEK  VI 

Lincoln  and  the  "Clary's  Grove  boys" — He  walks  six  miles  to 
return  six  cents — Chops  up  a  house  for  a  barefooted  man 
— The  Black  Hawk  War — Lincoln  elected  captain — He 
saves  the  life  of  a  friendly  Indian. 

After  Lincoln's  return  from  New  Orleans, 
and  while  he  was  still  a  clerk  for  Mr.  Offut,  an 
episode  occurred  which  settled  his  standing  in  the 
community  most  effectually. 

About  five  miles  from  New  Salem  was  a  little 
village  called  Clary's  Grove.  The  young  men  in 
the  place  were  known  as  the  "  Clary's  Grove 
boys."  They  were  a  terror  to  the  neighborhood, 
doing  many  reckless  tricks  "  just  for  fun,"  but 
they  were  good-natured  and  friendly,  not  mean- 
ing really  to  do  any  one  an  injury. 

They  wanted  everybody  to  know  that  the 
"  Clary's  Grove  boys  "  were  the  smartest,  the  best 
runners,  the  best  wrestlers,  could  jump  higher, 
and  throw  farther  than  anybody  else.  Mr.  Offut, 
Lincoln's  employer,  felt  very  proud  of  his  clerk. 

31 


32  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

His  strength,  his  cleverness  in  telling  stories,  and 
his  superior  knowledge  Mr.  Offut  often  boasted 
of.  He  said  he  knew  Lincoln  could  lift  more, 
run  faster,  out-throw,  and  out-wrestle  the  "  Clary's 
Grove  boys  "  or  any  one  else  in  the  county. 

The  "  Clary's  Grove  boys  "  consequently  felt 
it  their  duty  to  prove  their  superiority  over  Of- 
fut's  clerk,  and  selected  Jack  Armstrong  to 
"  throw  Abe."  Armstrong  "  was  as  strong  as  an 
ox,"  and,  they  claimed,  "  the  best  man  that  ever 
lived." 

Lincoln  did  not  like  to  "  tussle  and  scuffle," 
and  "  wooling  and  pulling  "  were  also  objection- 
able to  him;  but  Mr.  Offut  had  said  so  much  that 
he  felt  in  honor  bound  to  accept  the  challenge. 

So  one  fine  day  a  wrestling  match  was  ar- 
ranged near  Mr.  Offut's  store,  and  all  the  people 
for  miles  around  came  to  see  the  fun.  Almost 
everybody  was  betting  that  Armstrong  would 
beat  "  the  long,  thin  fellow,  Abe  Lincoln  " ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  began  to  wrestle  it  was  plain  that, 
for  once,  the  "  Clary's  Grove  boy  "  had  met  his 
match. 

The  two  men  wrestled  long  and  hard,  but 
both  kept  their  feet.  Neither  could  throw  the 
other,  and  Armstrong,  finally  getting  angry  at 
Lincoln's  endurance,  tried  a  "  foul."  Lincoln 
at  once  saw  his  game,  and  quick  as  a  flash,  and 
furious  with  indignation,  he  caught  him  by  the 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  33 

throat,  held  him  out  at  arm's  length,  and  shook 
him  as  a  dog  might  shake  a  rat. 

Armstrong's  friends  rushed  forward  to  help 
him,  although  they  knew  he  had  done  wrong,  and 
for  a  minute  it  looked  as  though  Lincoln  would 
be  overcome  by  force  of  numbers.  But,  facing  the 
whole  crowd,  he  backed  toward  the  store  and 
bravely  defied  them. 

His  resolute  and  courageous  manner,  as  well 
as  his  great  strength,  won  their  admiration  at 
once;  and  what  bid  fair  to  end  in  a  general  fight, 
turned  finally  into  a  friendly  hand-shaking  all 
around,  even  Jack  Armstrong  declaring  that 
"  Lincoln  was  the  best  fellow  that  ever  came  to 
that  town."  Armstrong  afterward  proved  him- 
self a  true  friend  to  Lincoln,  welcoming  him  to 
his  home  and  treating  him  with  great  hospitality 
and  consideration. 

Lincoln's  Honesty — He   walks   Six  Miles  to  return 
Six  Cents 

One  night  after  closing  the  store,  when  Lin- 
coln was  counting  up  the  money  he  found  he 
had  six  cents  too  much.  After  thinking  it  over 
a  long  time,  he  remembered  how  he  had  made 
the  mistake  in  making  change  for  a  woman  who 
had  bought  a  lot  of  things  of  him  that  day.  As 
soon  as  he  locked  up  the  store  he  started  out  to 
find  this  woman,  determined  to  return  the  money 


34  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

that  night  before  going  to  bed.  She  lived  three 
miles  in  the  country;  but  it  was  a  nice  clear  night, 
the  stars  were  shining  brightly,  and  Lincoln 
walked  out  to  the  farmhouse,  gave  the  woman 
the  money,  explained  the  mistake,  and  returned 
home  happy  to  think  he  had  done  what  was  right, 
though  he  had  gone  on  foot  six  miles  to  do  it. 

At  another  time  he  weighed  out  a  half  pound 
of  tea — at  least  he  thought  he  did.  It  was  at 
night,  just  before  closing  up  the  store,  and  the 
place  was  quite  dark.  The  next  morning,  on  en- 
tering the  store,  he  found  a  four-ounce  weight  on 
the  scales  instead  of  the  eight-ounce,  which  he 
thought  he  had  used;  so  he  knew  he  had  given 
but  half  as  much  to  his  customer  as  he  had  taken 
pay  for.  He  at  once  weighed  out  four  ounces 
more,  closed  up  the  store,  and  hurried  off  to  de- 
liver the  balance  of  the  tea. 

Lincoln  "chops  up1'  a  House  and  gives  Comfort  to 
a  Barefooted,  Shivering  Man 

Mr.  Lamon,  in  his  Life  of  Lincoln,  tells  a  good 
story  illustrating  his  disposition  to  relieve  suf- 
fering : 

'"'  While  living  in  New  Salem,  one  cold  day 
in  winter,  Lincoln  saw  a  poor  fellow  named  Ab 
Trent  hard  at  work  i  chopping  up  '  a  house  which 
Mr.  Hill  had  employed  him  to  convert  into  fire- 
wood. 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  35 

"  Ab  was  barefooted,  and  shivered  pitifully 
while  he  worked. 

"  Lincoln  watched  him  a  few  minutes  and  said: 

"  '  Ab,  how  much  are  you  to  get  for  this  job?  ' 

"  Ab  answered,  i  I  am  to  have  a  dollar/  and, 
pointing  to  his  naked  feet,  added,  '  I  am  going  to 
buy  a  pair  of  shoes!  ' 

"  '  Let  me  have  that  ax/  said  Lincoln.  '  Now 
you  go  and  get  warm  at  the  nearest  fire,  while  I 
finish  the  job  for  you.' 

"  So  saying,  Lincoln  seized  the  ax  and 
chopped  up  the  house  so  fast  that  Mr.  Hill  and 
Ab  were  amazed  when  they  saw  it  done. 

"  Ab  always  remembered  this  act  of  kind- 
ness with  the  liveliest  gratitude. 

"  He  afterward  tried  to  vote  for  Lincoln, 
though  he  belonged  to  the  opposite  party,  but  his 
acquaintances  got  him  drunk  and  then  made  him 
vote  against  him." 

How  Lincoln  was  elected  Captain — How  he  managed 
to  get  his  Company  "Endwise" 

Mr.  OfTut's  store  was  soon  closed  up,  and  again 
Lincoln  was  out  of  employment.  About  this  time, 
when  Lincoln  was  twenty-three  years  old,  the 
Indians,  under  "  Black  Hawk/'  came  back  into 
the  State  of  Illinois,  and  all  the  people  living 
on  farms  and  in  small  settlements  fled  in  a  panic 
to  the  forts  and  larger  towns  for  protection.     The 


36  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Governor  of  the  State  called  for  volunteers,  and 
Lincoln,  with  a  number  of  young  men  from  New 
Salem,  enlisted  to  fight  the  Indians. 

There  was  a  man  in  the  company  by  the  name 
of  Kirkpatrick,  who  wanted  to  be  captain.  This 
man  owed  Lincoln  two  dollars  for  moving  a  lot  of 
heavy  logs,  and  when  the  election  for  captain  oc- 
curred at  Beardstown,  111.,  Lincoln  said  to  a  friend 
(a  Mr.  William  Greene),  "  Bill,  I  believe  I  can 
now  pay  Kirkpatrick  for  that  two  dollars  he  owes 
me  for  moving  those  big  logs.  I'll  run  against  him 
for  captain."  The  vote  was  taken  in  a  field,  the 
men  being  commanded  to  gather  around  the  one 
they  wanted  for  their  captain.  When  the  order 
was  given,  three  fourths  of  the  men  gathered  about 
Lincoln,  to  his  own  surprise,  and  he  was  thus 
elected  captain.  Years  afterward,  when  he  had 
become  President,  Lincoln  said  "  he  had  never 
since  then  met  with  any  success  which  gave  him 
so  much  satisfaction." 

Lincoln  knew  nothing  of  military  rules,  and 
many  years  afterward  he  told  many  amusing 
stories  of  his  experience  as  a  soldier. 

One  day  he  was  drilling  the  men,  and  they 
were  marching  with  twenty  men  fronting  in  line 
across  a  field,  when  he  wished  to  pass  through  a 
gate  into  the  next  field. 

"  I  could  not  for  the  life  of  me,"  said  Lincoln, 
"  remember  the  proper  word  of  command  for  get- 


FOURTH  PERIOD:    MANHOOD  37 

ting  my  company  '  endwise  '  so  that  it  could  get 
through  the  gate;  so,  as  we  came  near  the  gate, 
I  shouted: 

"  '  This  company  is  dismissed  for  two  minutes, 
when  it  will  fall  in  again  on  the  other  side  of  the 
gate!"' 

After  he  became  President,  Lincoln  fre- 
quently enjoyed  telling  this  story. 

Lincoln  risks  his  Life  to  save  a  Defenseless  Indian 

Lincoln's  company  had  no  chance  to  fight  in 
the  war,  and  did  not  take  part  in  any  battle;  but 
while  on  the  field,  expecting  to  be  ordered  at  any 
moment  to  march  against  the  savages,  Lincoln 
acted  in  a  most  heroic  and  honorable  manner  in 
saving  the  life  of  a  good  and  friendly  Indian.  It 
came  about  in  this  way: 

"  One  day  there  came  into  the  camp  a  poor, 
old,  hungry  Indian,  without  any  weapon  on  his 
person.  He  had  with  him  a  pass  from  the  general 
.in  command,  which  proved  that  he  was  a  good 
and  friendly  Indian;  but  this  he  forgot  to  show 
at  first. 

"  The  soldiers,  who  had  learned  to  hate  all 
Indians,  suspected  him  as  a  spy;  and,  angry  be- 
cause the  Indians  had  killed  so  many  white  people, 
they  were  about  to  kill  him. 

"  When  the  old  Indian  saw  their  intention  by 
their  angry  manner  (for  he  could  not  understand 


38  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

their  talk),  lie  remembered  the  pass  for  safe  con- 
duct which  he  had  with  him,  and  brought  it  out 
and  showed  it  to  them. 

"  But  the  men  were  blind  with  rage ;  they  had 
come  a  good  many  miles  to  fight  Indians,  and  this 
was  the  first  one  they  had  seen.  They  had  made 
up  their  minds  to  kill  Indians,  and  were  not  to 
be  cheated  out  of  their  revenge  by  a  little  piece 
of  paper  signed  by  their  commanding  general. 
Besides,  it  might  be  a  forgery,  and  not  the  real 
writing  of  the  general.  So  they  said  they  did 
not  believe  it  was  a  real  true  pass,  and  cried  out: 
'  Let  us  shoot  him!     Let  us  shoot  him!  ' 

"  About  a  dozen  soldiers  grasped  their  guns, 
and  cocking  them,  started  to  shoot  him.  They  had 
already  raised  their  weapons  and  wTere  just  about 
to  fire,  when  Captain  Lincoln,  who  had  heard  the 
noise,  came  upon  them.  He  rushed  forward, 
shouting  out :  '  Hold  on !  hold  on !  don't  fire ! 
I  command  you  to  stop!  '  And,  springing  in 
front  of  the  men,  he  knocked  up  their  guns 
with  his  arms  and  protected  the  Indian  with  his 
own  body. 

"  But  the  men  were  not  inclined  to  obey,  and 
Lincoln,  now  thoroughly  aroused,  with  eyes  full 
of  defiance,  shouted  out :  6  Are  you  soldiers !  and 
would  you  murder  a  poor,  defenseless  old  man? 
For  shame!  for  shame!  Such  an  act  would  dis- 
grace our  State  and  country! ' 


FOURTH  PERIOD:    MANHOOD  39 

"Some  soldiers  shouted:  '  He's  a  spy!  He's 
a  spy! ' 

"  i  If  lie's  a  spy,'  answered  Lincoln,  '  we  will 
prove  it,  and  he  shall  suffer  death;  but,  until  that 
is  proven,  any  man  who  attempts  to  take  his  life 
will  have  to  deal  with  me.  Disband  and  go  to 
your  quarters;  I  will  answer  for  his  friendship 
myself.'  The  soldiers  now  lowered  their  guns, 
and  went  away,  leaving  Lincoln  with  the  old  man. 

"  The  Indian  then  showed  him  his  pass,  which 
Lincoln  saw  at  once  was  genuine,  and  so  he  told 
him  to  go  and  be  free.  The  poor  man  could  not 
speak  his  thanks,  so  he  knelt  down  and  kissed  the 
feet  of  his  liberator,  and  with  many  actions  tried 
to  show  him  his  gratitude." 


ENTRANCE  INTO  POLITICS 


CHAPTER  VII 

Lincoln  returns  to  New  Salem — Candidate  for  the  Legislature 
— Takes  a  store  and  studies  law  under  difficulties — Fails 
in  business — Is  appointed  surveyor — Postmaster — Bare- 
footed he  studies  on  a  wood-pile — Cradles  wheat  to  win 
votes — Sad  story  of  Anne  Rutledge — Elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature— Becomes  a  lawyer — The  lightning-rod  and  For- 
quer's  guilty  conscience. 

At  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  Lin- 
coln returned  to  New  Salem,  and  in  August  an- 
nounced himself  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature. 
Out  of  two  hundred  and  eight  votes  in  his  town 
he  received  all  hut  three,  but  in  the  whole  dis- 
trict his  opponent  received  a  majority. 

His  defeat  in  no  way  discouraged  him,  for  he 
had  made  a  very  respectable  showing,  and  the 
almost  unanimous  vote  of  New  Salem  was  very 
flattering. 

He  now  took  a  store  with  a  partner,  purchas- 
ing it  on  credit.     All  his  spare  time  was  spent  in 
reading  and  studying  law,  for  he  had  now  made 
up  his  mind  he  would  become  a  lawyer. 
40 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD 


41 


In  1833  they  sold  the  store  out  to  another 
party.  When  he  was  in  business,  in  between 
times,  while  waiting  on  his  customers,  Lincoln 
read  and  studied.  Sometimes  he  would  get  only 
three  or  five  minutes,  and  would  turn  aside  from 
reciting  his  lessons 
to  wait  upon  the 
people  without  ap- 
pearing in  the  least 
disturbed. 

Now,  while  out 
of  business,  he  be- 
came, if  possible, 
still  more  industri- 
ous, carrying  his 
book  with  him 
wherever  he  went, 
reading  and  studying  on  the  street,  in  the  field,  or 
in  the  forest  splitting  rails. 

One  day,  while  in  the  woods  splitting  rails,  he 
received  notice  that  he  had  been  appointed  a  sur- 
veyor of  lands.  This  was,  indeed,  good  news  to 
him,  for  it  meant  three  dollars  a  day  in  wages — 
quite  a  large  amount  in  those  days. 

Lincoln  knew  little  or  nothing  of  surveying, 
but  he  borrowed  books  and  the  needed  appliances 
from  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  had  appointed  him,  and 
went  to  work  studying  hard,  with  the  school 
teacher  (Mr.  Mentor  Graham)  to  help  him.     In 


Studying  law  on  a  log  bench. 


42  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

a  few  weeks  he  reported  for  duty  and  made  an 
honorable  record  as  a  surveyor.  In  1833  he  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  'New  Salem.  The  letters 
were  so  few  that  he  frequently  carried  all  of  them 
in  his  hat. 

Lincoln,  Barefooted,  studies  Law  on  a  Wood-pile — 
Elected  to  the  Legislature — Becomes  a  Lawyer 

Before  his  appointment  as  postmaster,  and 
while  he  was  taking  any  work  that  offered,  the 
following  episode  occurred,  showing  his  deter- 
mination to  become  a  lawyer  in  spite  of  his 
poverty. 

Mr.  Herndon,  Mr.  Lincoln's  law  partner,  re- 
lates the  story  as  follows: 

"  Russell  Godby,  an  old  man  who  was  still 
alive  in  1865,  told  me  that  he  often  hired  Lincoln 
to  do  farm  work  for  him.  One  day  he  was  sur- 
prised to  find  him  sitting  barefooted  on  top  of 
a  wood-pile  reading  a  book  with  so  much  interest 
that  he  did  not  notice  him  till  he  was  close  upon 
him.  This  being  a  very  unusual  thing  for  farm 
hands  to  do,  he  said :  '  Lincoln,  what  are  you 
reading? ' 

"  '  I'm  not  reading,  I'm  studying!  '  he  an- 
swered. 

"  '  Studying  what? '  said  Godby. 

"  '  Law,  sir!  '  was  the  quick  and  positive  reply. 

"  It  was  too  much  for  Mr.  Godby,  as  he  looked 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  43 

at  him  sitting  there,  proud  as  a  king,  and  he 
couldn't  help  exclaiming,  '  Good  gracious  me !  '  as 
he  passed  on." 

Lincoln  cradles  Wheat  to  win  Votes 

Mr.  Row  Herndon,  formerly  of  New  Salem, 
relates  how  Lincoln  secured  a  number  of  votes 
for  his  candidacy  to  the  Legislature  (in  1834). 
He  said: 

"  He  [Lincoln]  came  to  my  house  near  Island 
Grove  during  the  harvest;  there  were  some  thirty 
men  in  the  field.  He  got  his  dinner  and  went 
into  the  field  where  the  men  were  at  work.  I 
gave  him  an  introduction,  and  the  boys  said  they 
could  not  vote  for  a  man  unless  he  could  make  a 
hand  [that  is,  take  a  scythe  or  cradle  and  mow]. 

"  '  Well,  boys,'  said  Lincoln,  '  if  that's  all,  I 
am  sure  of  your  votes !  ' 

"  He  then  took  the  cradle  and  led  the  way  all 
the  round  of  the  field  with  perfect  ease. 

"  The  boys  were  satisfied,  and  I  don't  think 
he  lost  a  vote  in  the  entire  crowd." 

Anne  Rutledge,  Lincoln's  Betrothed — Her  Death 
"  The  saddest  chapter  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  life." 

Mr.  Herndon,  in  his  Life,  relates  of  his  per- 
sonal knowledge  the  sorrowful  story  of  Lincoln 
and  Anne  Rutledge,  which  he  terms  "  the  saddest 


44  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

chapter  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  life,"  and  we  glean  from 
it  briefly  the  following  facts: 

"  Anne  Rutledge  was  a  beautiful  girl,  quick  of 
apprehension,  industrious,  an  excellent  house- 
keeper, and  by  her  modest,  winning  ways  attached 
people  to  her  so  firmly  that  she  soon  became  the 
most  popular  young  lady  in  the  village.  A  smart 
young  business  man  by  the  name  of  McNeil,  from 
New  York  State,  who  had  a  store  and  was  pros- 
perous, fell  in  love  with  her,  and  they  became 
engaged.  When  he  had  accumulated  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  dollars  he  determined  to  return 
to  his  native  State  to  bring  on  his  parents, 
brothers,  and  sisters  to  share  his  prosperity. 

"  On  the  eve  of  his  departure  he  confided  to 
Anne  that  his  real  name  was  McNamar,  and  that 
he  had  changed  it  to  McNeil  for  fear  his  fam- 
ily would  follow  him  and  prevent  his  success  in 
business.  They  were  engaged  and  he  could  keep 
nothing  from  her.  As  soon  as  he  returned  they 
would  be  married.  On  *his  way  East  McNamar 
was  taken  ill,  and  for  a  month  was  confined  to 
his  room.  Upon  finally  reaching  New  York,  after 
many  delays,  his  father  became  very  sick,  and 
gradually  faded  out  of  life.  At  last  he  wrote 
to  Anne;  but  meantime  his  long  silence  and  the 
change  of  his  name  had  aroused  suspicion  in  the 
minds  of  her  friends,  and  as  each  of  his  suc- 
ceeding letters  grew  less  ardent  she  began  to  lose 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  45 

faith,  and  finally  the  correspondence  ceased  alto- 
gether. 

"  At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  Lincoln  be- 
gan his  advances  with  such  success  that  he  was 
soon  recognized  as  her  approved  suitor.  His 
native  modesty  naturally  impeded  very  rapid 
progress,  but  he  escorted  her  to  quilting  par- 
ties, and  at  her  house  she  would  frequently  sing 
for  him,  while  her  relations  all  showed  that 
they  favored  Lincoln's  suit.  Thus  eventually  she 
was  brought  to  reciprocate  his  passion,  and,  while 
consenting  to  marry  him,  she  made  it  conditional 
that  she  should  write  Mc^amar  and  obtain  his  re- 
lease from  her  pledge.  The  slow-moving  mails 
carried  her  letter  to  J^ew  York,  but  no  answer 
came  back,  and  after  many  weeks  she  accepted 
Lincoln's  proposal.  Then  Lincoln's  poverty  stood 
in  the  way;  she  must  give  him  time  to  gather 
funds  to  live  on  until  he  could  complete  his  law 
studies.  To  this  she  consented,  and  told  her 
friends  '  as  soon  as  his  studies  are  completed  we 
are  to  be  married.'  Lincoln's  great  happiness, 
the  joy  of  a  devoted  love,  the  comfort  and  sooth- 
ing influence  of  an  affectionate  caress,  for  which 
his  soul  hungered,  were  never  to  be  realized. 

"  In  the  late  summer  Anne  Rutleclge  was  taken 
sick  with  a  burning  fever,  and  soon  all  hope  of  her 
recovery  was  abandoned.  Her  brother  related 
that  she  kept  inquiring  so  continuously  for  Lin- 


46  LINCOLN   IN   STORY 

coin,  at  times  demanding  to  see  him,  that  he  was 
finally  permitted  to  enter  her  room,  where  for  an 
hour  they  were  left  alone.  A  few  days  afterward 
she  died,  and  the  effect  on  Lincoln  is  described  by 
her  brother  as  '  terrible.'  He  was  plunged  in  de- 
spair, and  wandered  up  and  down  the  river  and 
into  the  woods  wofully  and  abstractedly,  at  times 
in  the  greatest  distress.  His  friends  feared  he 
would  lose  his  reason,  and  finally  sent  him  to  a 
kind  friend,  Bowlin  Greene,  who  lived  beyond  the 
hills  a  mile  south  of  the  town.  Here  he  soon  re- 
covered his  self-command,  and  in  the  years  that 
followed  he  never  ceased  to  be  grateful  for  his 
friend's  great  kindness." 

Two  years  after  the  death  of  Miss  Rutledge, 
Lincoln  declared  to  a  fellow-member  of  the  Legis- 
lature that  "  although  he  seemed  to  others  to  en- 
joy life  rapturously,  yet  when  alone  he  was  so 
overcome  by  mental  depression  he  never  dared 
to  carry  a  pocket-knife."  And  seven  years 
after  that  event,  when  called  upon  to  speak  at 
the  grave  'of  Bowlin  Greene,  he  broke  down 
completely,  and  was  carried  sobbing  from  the 
scene. 

That  the  death  of  his  betrothed  produced  a 
deep  wound  and  cast  a  shadow  across  the  soul  of 
Lincoln  which  never  quite  faded,  can  not  be 
doubted.  It  was  his  first  "  grand  passion,"  that 
lifted  him  up  to  the  heavenly  heights,  from  which 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  47 

he  was  plunged  to  the  deepest  depths  of  agony 
and  despair;  and  thus  the  second  great  sorrow  of 
his  life  became  written  upon  his  face,  which  sub- 
sequent events  were  to  add  to,  until  it  became 
"  in  repose  the  saddest  face  man  ever  saw." 

In  1834  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and 
had  to  borrow  money  to  clothe  himself  respect- 
ably, so  that  he  could  attend  the  session.  Again, 
in  1836,  he  was  elected,  and  in  1837  he  was 
licensed  to  practise  law.  John  F.  Stuart  was  his 
partner.  Late  in  this  year  he  delivered  an  essay 
before  the  Young  Men's  Lyceum  in  Springfield, 
111.,  on  the  Perpetuation  of  our  Free  Institu- 
tions, which,  being  published  in  the  Sangamon 
Journal,  created  a  reputation  for  him  beyond  the 
limits  of  that  city. 

The  Lightning-Hod  and  Forquer's  Guilty 
Conscience 

Joshua  F.  Speed  relates  that  during  the  cam- 
paign for  the  Legislature  of  1836  Lincoln  made 
a  telling  speech  a  few  days  before  election. 

"  The  crowd  was  large,  many  friends  and  ad- 
mirers coming  in  from  the  country.  The  speech 
produced  a  profound  impression;  the  crowd  was 
with  him.  George  Forquer,  an  old  and  respected 
citizen  of  ability,  was  present.  He  had  been  a 
Whig  of  prominence,  but  had  recently  joined  the 
Democratic  party,  and  almost  simultaneously  had 


48  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

been  appointed  register  of  the  land  office.  Just 
at  this  time  Mr.  Forquer  had  completed  a  neat 
frame  house — the  best  house  in  Springfield  at  the 
time — and  over  it  erected  a  lightning-rod,  the  first 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  ever  seen. 

"  At  the  conclusion  of  Lincoln's  speech  Mr. 
Forquer  arose  and  asked  to  be  heard. 

"  He  commenced  thus: 

"  l  This  young  man  will  have  to  be  taken 
down,  and  I  am  sorry  the  task  devolves  upon  me.' 

"  He  then  proceeded  to  answer  Lincoln's  argu- 
ments in  an  able  and  fair,  but  patronizing  man- 
ner. Lincoln  stood  a  few  steps  away  with  arms 
folded,  carefully  watching  the  speaker,  and  taking 
in  everything  he  said. 

"  He  was  laboring  under  a  good  deal  of  sup- 
pressed excitement.  Forquer's  sting  had  aroused 
the  lion  within  him.  At  length  Forquer  ended, 
and  he  mounted  the  stand  to  reply. 

"  His  reply  was  characterized  by  great  dignity 
and  force,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  conclusion: 

"  '  Mr.  Forquer  commenced  his  speech  by  an- 
nouncing that  the  young  man  would  have  to  be 
taken  down.  It  is  for  you,  fellow-citizens,  not  me, 
to  say  whether  I  am  up  or  down.  The  gentleman 
has  seen  fit  to  allude  to  my  being  a  young  man, 
but  he  forgets  that  I  am  older  in  years  than  in  the 
tricks  and  trades  of  politicians. 

"  '  I  desire  to  live,  and  I  desire  place  and  dis- 


FOURTH   PERIOD:    MANHOOD  49 

tinction,  but  I  would  rather  die  now  than,  like  the 
gentleman,  live  to  see  the  day  that  I  would  change 
my  politics  for  an  office  worth  three  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year,  and  then  feel  compelled  to  erect  a 
lightning-rod  to  protect  a  guilty  conscience  from 
an  offended  God.7  " 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    THE   LEGISLATOR 
—THE  LAWYER 

(1837-1855) 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Arrival  in  Springfield — Odd  campaigning  experiences — Help- 
ing a  land  hunter— "A  small  crop  of  fight" — The  blue 
sock  and  Government  money — The  slow  horse  story — The 
marriage  of  Lincoln — His  partnerships — Speeches  for  Clay 
— Elected  to  Congress — Saving  two  young  men  from  dis- 
honesty. 

Mr.  Joshua  Speed,  a  very  dear  friend  of  Lin- 
coln's, relates  in  the  following  manner  how  at  this 
time  Lincoln  made  his  first  appearance  as  a  lawyer 
in  Springfield,  with  the  intention  of  making  it  his 
permanent  residence: 

"  He  had  ridden  into  town  on  a  borrowed 
horse,  with  no  earthly  property  save  a  pair  of  sad- 
dle-bags containing  a  few  clothes.  I  was  then  a 
merchant  at  Springfield,  "and  kept  a  country  store, 
selling  pretty  nearly  everything  that  might  be 
wanted  in  the  country. 

"  Lincoln  came  into  the  store  with  his  saddle- 
50 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    51 

bags  under  his  arm.  He  said  lie  wanted  to  buy 
the  furniture  for  a  single  bed.  The  blankets,  mat- 
tress, coverlids,  sheets,  and  pillow,  according  to 
my  prices,  would  cost  seventeen  dollars. 

"  '  Perhaps  that's  cheap  enough/  said  Lincoln, 
'  but,  small  as  the  price  is,  I  am  unable  to  pay  it. 
But,'  he  added,  '  if  you  will  give  me  credit  till 
Christmas-time,  and  my  experiment  as  a  lawyer 
succeeds,  I  will  pay  you  then.' 

"  '  Well,'  I  said,  '  suppose  you  don't  succeed.' 

"  In  the  saddest  possible  tone  of  voice  he  re- 
plied, *  If  I  fail  in  this,  I  do  not  know  that  I  can 
ever  pay  you.' 

"  As  I  looked  up  at  him,  I  thought  then,  and  I 
think  now,  that  I  never  saw  a  sadder  face. 

"  I  said  to  him,  i  You  seem  to  be  so  much 
pained  at  making  so  small  a  debt,  I  think  I  can 
suggest  a  plan  by  which  you  can  avoid  the  debt, 
and  at  the  same  time  attain  your  end.' 

"  '  Do  you  really  think  so  ? '  said  Lincoln,  his 
face  brightening  somewhat. 

"  '  Yes,'  said  I,  '  I  have  a  large  room  with  a 
double  bed  up-stairs  which  you  are  very  welcome 
to  share  with  me.' 

"  '  Where  is  the  room? '  said  he. 

"  '  LTp-stairs,'  said  I,  pointing  to  a  pair  of 
winding  stairs  which  led  from  the  store  to  my 
room.  He  took  his  saddle-bags  on  his  arm,  went 
up-stairs,  set  them  on  the  floor,  and  came  down 


52  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

with  the  most  changed  expression  on  his  face. 
Looking  very  happy,  he  exclaimed: 

"  <  Well,  Speed,  I'm  moved!  '" 

Another  friend  took  him  to  board  without 
pay,  and  so,  with  the  help  of  good,  kind-hearted 
people,  Lincoln  began  life  as  a  lawyer  in  Spring- 
field.  . 

Story  of  Lincoln's  Campaign  Expenses,  Seventy -five 
Cents 

In  these  days  when  honesty  in  political  mat- 
ters is  so  rare,  and  when  each  candidate  spends  so 
much  of  his  own  or  other  people's  money  to  get 
elected  to  an  office,  it  may  be  well  to  turn  back 
the  pages  of  history  and  read  of  the  days  when 
honesty  as  well  as  ability  was  rewarded  in  the  field 
of  politics. 

In  1838  there  was  a  very  exciting  election  in 
Illinois,  and  Lincoln  for  the  second  time  was 
chosen  for  the  Legislature  by  his  party  (the 
Whigs).  A  number  of  his  friends  gathered  to- 
gether and  gave  him  two  hundred  dollars  to  pay 
his  expenses.  After  the  election  was  over  and 
Lincoln  had  been  successful,  he  handed  back  to 
his  friend,  Mr.  Speed,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents,  with  the 
request  that  he  give  it  back  to  those  who  had 
given  it  to  him.  He  said:  "I  did  not  need  the 
money;   I  made  the  canvass  on  my   own  horse; 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND   LAWYER    53 

my  entertainment  [board]  being  at  the  home  of 
friends,  cost  nothing;  and  my  only  outlay  was  sev- 
enty-five cents  for  a  barrel  of  cider  which  some 
farm  laborers  insisted  I  should  treat  them  to !  " 

What  a  contrast  this  story  of  simplicity  and 
honesty  furnishes  to  the  extravagance  and  dishon- 
esty that  prevails  in  politics  to-day !  Can  we  won- 
der that  Lincoln  was  loved  and  admired  by  all 
who  knew  him,  and  that  they  got  in  the  habit  of 
calling  him  "  Honest  Old  Abe,"  by  which  name 
he  became  generally  known,  and  was  afterward 
elected  President  of  the  United  States? 

Lincoln  demands  Free  Speech  for  a  Friend  ivho  was 
about  to  be  Mobbed 

It  was  during  the  preceding  canvass  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  interfered  and  protected  his  friend  E.  D. 
Baker  from  the  fury  of  his  opponents.  This  gen- 
tleman was  speaking  to  a  crowd  in  the  court-room, 
which  was  immediately  under  Lincoln  and  Stu- 
art's law  office.  Just  over  the  platform  on  which 
the  speaker  stood  was  a  trap-door  in  the  floor. 
Lincoln  at  the  time,  as  was  often  his  habit,  was 
lying  on  the  floor,  looking  down  through  this  hole 
at  the  speaker.  Baker,  getting  warmed  up,  made 
a  sweeping  charge  against  his  opponent,  which  an- 
gered many  in  the  crowd,  and  the  cry  of  "  Pnll 
him  down!  Pull  him  down!  "  was  followed  by  a 
forward  movement  of  the  men.     Baker,  his  face 


54  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

pale  with  excitement,  squared  himself  to  meet  the 
on-rushing  and  maddened  men  with  a  stout  resist- 
ance, when,  in  the  midst  of  the  noise  and  confu- 
sion, a  pair  of  long  legs,  with  big  feet,  were  seen 
dangling  from  the  ceiling  (where  the  trap-door 
was)  over  the  platform,  and  in  a  moment  the  fig- 
ure of  Lincoln  dropped  upon  the  floor.  Picking 
up  a  water-pitcher  in  an  attitude  of  defense,  he 
shouted,  "  Hold  on,  gentlemen !  This  is  a  land  of 
free  speech.  Mr.  Baker  has  a  right  to  be  heard. 
I  am  here  to  protect  him,  and  no  man  shall  take 
him  from  this  stand  if  I  can  prevent  it."  Imme- 
diately quiet  was  restored,  and  Baker  was  allowed 
to  resume  his  speech. 

How  Lincoln  won  the  Fanner's  Wife  while  his 
Opponent  milked  the  Cow 

In  those  days  when  men  wanted  to  get  an 
office,  both  the  Republican  and  Democratic  can- 
didates traveled  together  around  the  country  from 
town  to  town,  stopping  at  farmhouses  in  between 
and  talking  to  the  people,  trying  to  make  friends 
and  get  them  to  vote  for  them. 

A  good  story  is  told  that  shows  Lincoln's  clev- 
erness, and  how,  at  this  time,  during  one  of  his 
electioneering  tours,  he  won  the  favor  of  a  farm- 
er's wife,  whose  husband  was  a  very  important 
man  in  that  county. 

One  afternoon  Lincoln  and  his  opponent  rode 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    55 

up  to  this  farmer's  house  on  horses,  which  they 
put  out  in  the  barn  themselves,  the  husband  being 
away  in  a  distant  field  at  work.  The  good  farm- 
er's wife  invited  them  to  take  supper  and  stay 
overnight,  as  was  customary.  Now,  each  man 
wanted  to  win  the  good-will  of  the  lady,  because 
she,  of  course,  had  a  strong  influence  over  her  hus- 
band; but  for  quite  a  while  neither  seemed  to  suc- 
ceed very  well. 

Finally  it  came  time  to  milk  the  cows,  and  the 
woman,  taking  her  pail,  started  for  the  barn-yard. 
Mr.  Ewing  (Lincoln's  companion  and  opponent) 
now  saw  his  chance,  and,  following  quickly,  he 
took  the  pail  from  her  hand  and  insisted  upon 
milking  the  cow  himself.  He  thought  by  thus 
helping  the  woman  to  do  her  work  he  would 
surely  win  her  good-will;  and  so  he  sat  down  and 
commenced  milking,  chuckling  to  himself  how  he 
had  got  the  better  of  "  Abe  Lincoln."  Once  in  a 
while  he  would  speak  to  the  lady,  who  stood  by 
the  fence  looking  on;  but  after  a  time,  receiving 
no  reply  from  her,  he  looked  around  only  to  see 
the  woman  and  Lincoln  leaning  comfortably  on 
the  fence,  and  talking  in  a  most  friendly  manner. 
Mr.  Ewing  now  was  naturally  disgusted  with  him- 
self, for  there  he  had  to  sit  and  finish  his  task, 
while  Lincoln  was  having  a  good  time  chatting 
with  the  lady,  and  captivating  her  with  his  amus- 
ing stories. 


56  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

When  Mr.  Ewing  finished,  the  farmer's  wife 
"  added  insult  to  injury  "  by  thanking  him  most 
heartily,  not  only  for  milking  the  cow,  but  also 
for  "  giving  her  a  chance  to  have  such  a  pleasant 
talk  with  Mr.  Lincoln!  " 

Lincoln  lends  a  Poor  Acquaintance  his  Horse  to 
take  up  some  Land 

Lincoln  always  sympathized  with  the  "  under 
dog  in  the  fight,"  and  was  never  so  happy  as  when 
he  could  help  some  one  else  to  what  he  believed 
they  deserved.  While  he  was  postmaster  at  New 
Salem  (carrying  the  letters  around  in  his  hat)  he 
was  overtaken  one  day,  when  about  fourteen  miles 
from  Springfield,  by  a  Mr.  Chandler,  whom  he 
knew  slightly.  This  man  had  already  ridden 
twenty  miles,  and  was  hastening  to  reach  the  land 
office  before  a  certain  other  man  who  had  gone  by 
a  different  road.  Chandler  explained  to  Lincoln 
that  he  was  poor  and  wanted  to  enter  a  small  tract 
of  land  which  adjoined  his;  that  another  man  of 
considerable  wealth  had  also  determined  to  have 
it,  and  had  mounted  his  horse  and  started  for 
Springfield.  "  Meanwhile,  my  neighbors,"  con- 
tinued Chandler,  "  collected  and  advanced  me 
the  necessary  one  hundred  dollars,  and  now,  if  I 
can  reach  the  land  office  first,  I  can  secure  the 
land." 

Lincoln,  "seeing  that  his  horse  was  jaded  and 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND   LAWYER     57 

in  no  condition  to  make  the  additional  fourteen 
miles,  at  once  dismounted  from  his  own  and 
turned  him  over  to  Chandler,  saying:  "  Here's 
my  horse;  he  is  fresh  and  full  of  grit;  there's  no 
time  to  be  lost;  mount  him  and  put  him  through. 
When  you  reach  Springfield  put  him  up  at  Hern- 
don's  tavern,  and  I'll  call  and  get  him."  Chandler 
at  once  changed  horses  and  hurried  on,  leaving 
Lincoln  to  follow  on  his  jaded  animal.  He  ar- 
rived in  Springfield  an  hour  in  advance  of  his 
rival,  and  secured  the  coveted  land.  By  nightfall 
Lincoln  rode  leisurely  into  town  and  was  met  by 
the  jubilant  Chandler,  and  between  the  two  there 
sprang  up  a  friendship  which  all  the  political  dis- 
cords of  twenty-five  years  could  not  disturb. 

A  Pig,  stuck  in  the  Mud,  is  rescued  by  Lincoln 

While  Lincoln  was  practising  law  he  used  to 
go  from  one  town  to  another  to  try  cases  before 
different  courts.  There  were  no  railroads  in  those 
days,  and  traveling  "  on  the  circuit "  (going 
around  from  court  to  court)  was  done  mostly  on 
horseback. 

One  day,  when  several  lawyers  besides  Mr. 
Lincoln  were  traveling  in  this  way,  they  came  to  a 
very  muddy  place  in  the  road,  and  at  one  side, 
near  the  rail  fence,  was  a  poor  pig  stuck  fast,  and 
squealing  as  loud  as  possible. 

The     men     thought     this    very    funny,     and 


58  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

laughed  at  the  unfortunate  pig;  but  Lincoln  said, 
"  Let  us  stop  and  help  the  poor  thing  out." 

"  Oh,  Abe,"  said  one,  "  you  must  be  crazy! 
Your  clothes  would  look  pretty  after  you  had 
lifted  that  dirty  pig  up,  wouldn't  they?  " 

The  others  all  poked  fun  at  Lincoln,  and  so 
they  rode  on  until  they  were  out  of  sight  and 
hearing  of  the  suffering  beast. 

Lincoln  rode  on  with  them  also,  but  little  by 
little  he  went  slower.  He  was  thinking  about  the 
pig,  and  the  farmer  who  owned  him.  He  thought : 
"  What  a  pity  for  him  to  lose  that  pig;  he  can't 
afford  it!  It  means  shoes  for  his  little  children  to 
wear  next  winter."  And  then  the  memory  of  that 
pitiful  squeal  kept  ringing  in  his  ears.  So,  after 
going  quite  a  long  distance  with  the  other  gentle- 
men, Lincoln  turned  his  horse  and  rode  back  all 
alone,  to  see  if  he  could  get  the  pig  out.  He 
found  the  poor  thing  still  deeper  than  before  in 
the  mud  and  mire.  So  he  took  some  rails  from 
off  the  fence,  and  putting  them  down  by  the 
squealing  animal,  made  a  safe  footing  to  stand  on. 
Then  he  took  two  other  rails,  and,  putting  them 
under  the  pig,  pried  him  up  out  of  the  mud  until 
he  could  reach  him  with  his  hands.  Then  he  took 
hold  of  him,  and,  pulling  him  out,  placed  him  on 
the  dry  land. 

As  the  pig  ran  grunting  off  toward  his  home, 
Lincoln  looked  at  his  soiled  clothes  with  a  satisfied 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    59 

smile,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Well,  a  little  water  and 
brushing  will  soon  make  the  clothes  look  clean 
again,  and  I  don't  care  if  the  other  fellows  do 
laugh  at  me;  the  pig's  out  of  his  misery,  and 
Farmer  Jones's  children  won't  have  to  go  bare- 
footed next  winter." 


"An  Almighty  Small  Crop  of  Fight" 
Lincoln  wins  a  case  by  a  humorous  question. 

In  Rice's  Recollections  of  Lincoln,  the  Hon. 
Chauncey  M.  Depew  relates  the  following  story, 
which  aptly  illustrates  the  humorous  as  well  as  the 
shrewd  side  of  Lincoln's  character: 

"  Lincoln  was  trying  a  case  in  Illinois  where  he 
appeared  in  defense  of  a  prisoner  charged  with  ag- 
gravated assault  and  battery.  The  complainant 
had  told  a  horrible  story  of  the  attack,  which  his 
appearance  fully  justified,  when  the  district  attor- 
ney, who  was  prosecuting  the  case  for  him,  handed 
him  over  to  Mr.  Lincoln  for  cross-examination. 
Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  had  no  testimony,  and  unless 
he  could  in  some  way  break  down  or  discredit  the 
complainant's  story,  he  saw  no  way  of  winning 
the  case. 

"  He  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  wit- 
ness was  a  bumptious  fellow,  who  rather  prided 
himself  on  his  smartness  in  repartee.  And  so, 
after  looking  at  him  some  time,  he  said: 


60  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  '  Well,  my  friend,  how  much,  ground  did  you 
and  my  client  here  fight  over? ' 

"  The  man  quickly  answered,  '  About  six 
acres.' 

"  '  Well/  said  Lincoln,  with  a  twinkle  in  his 
eyes  and  a  smile  playing  about  his  mouth,  '  don't 
you  think  that  this  is  an  almighty  small  crop  of 
fight  to  gather  from  such  a  big  piece  of  ground  ? ' 

"  This  produced  a  laugh,  which  was  finally 
joined  in  by  the  entire  court,  and  the  affair  was 
'  laughed  out  of  court.'  " 

The  Old  Blue  Socle  and  Government  Money  held  in 
Trust 

One  of  the  incidents  which  contributed  to  Lin- 
coln's fame  for  integrity,  and  won  for  him  the 
sobriquet  of  "  Honest  Abe,"  occurred  in  connec- 
tion with  the  closing  up  of  his  affairs  as  postmaster 
at  New  Salem. 

On  May  7,  1833,  he  was  appointed  postmaster, 
and  kept  the  place  until  it  was  discontinued.  The 
balance  of  money  in  his  hands  which  belonged  to 
the  Government  was  between  sixteen  and  eighteen 
dollars.  This  small  amount  was  overlooked  by 
the  post-office  department  and  not  called  for 
until  several  years  after  Lincoln  had  removed  to 
Springfield. 

During  these  years  he  had  been  very  poor — 
so    poor,    indeed,    that    he    had    been    compelled 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    61 

to  borrow  money   of  friends   for   the   necessities 
of  life. 

One  day  an  agent  of  the  post-office  called  at 
Mr.  Henry's,  with  whom  Lincoln  at  that  time  kept 
his  office. 

"  Knowing  Lincoln's  poverty,"  Mr.  Henry 
afterward  related,  "  and  how  often  he  had  been 
obliged  to  borrow  money,  I  did  not  believe  he  had 
the  funds  on  hand  to  meet  the  draft,  and  was 
about  to  call  him  aside  and  loan  it  to  him,  when 
he  asked  the  agent  to  be  seated  a  moment.  He 
then  went  over  to  his  boarding-house  and  re- 
turned with  an  old  blue  sock  with  a  quantity  of 
silver  and  copper  coin  tied  up  in  it. 

"  Untying  the  sock,  he  poured  out  the  contents- 
on  the  table  and  proceeded  to  count  it,  and  the 
exact  sum  (and  the  identical  coin)  was  found  which 
years  before  he  had  received  for  postage-stamps 
from  his  friends  in  Salem. 

"  All  the  intervening  years  the  money  had  been 
placed  aside  in  an  old  trunk,  and,  no  matter  how 
much  he  needed  money,  he  never  thought  of  using 
that  which  he  held  in  trust  for  the  Government. 
He  never  used  trust  funds" 

Two  Little  Birds  returned  to  their  Nest 

Lincoln's  great  kindness  of  heart  and  his  ex- 
treme sensitiveness  to  the  pain  and  suffering  of 
others,  even  of  animals,  or  any  living  thing,  are 


62  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

well  known.  We  are  indebted  to  his  old  Spring- 
field friend,  Mr.  Speed,  for  the  following  incident, 
illustrating  this  trait  of  his  character  which  so  en- 
deared him  to  his  friends: 

He,  with  several  members  of  the  bar  from 
Springfield,  had  been  attending  court  at  Chris- 
tiansburg,  and  Mr.  Speed  was  riding  with  them 
toward  the  Capitol.  There  was  quite  a  party  of 
lawyers  riding  two  by  two  along  a  country  lane, 
and  Lincoln  and  Hardin  brought  up  the  rear  of 
the  cavalcade.     Mr.  Speed  relates: 

"  We  had  passed  through  a  thicket  of  wild 
plum  and  crab-trees  and  stopped  to  water  our 
horses,  when  Hardin  came  up  alone. 

"  '  Where  is  Lincoln? '  we  all  inquired. 

"  '  Oh/  replied  he,  '  when  I  saw  him  last  he 
had  caught  two  young  birds  which  the  wind  had 
blown  out  of  their  nest,  and  he  was  hunting  for 
the  nest  to  put  them  back.' 

"  In  a  short  time  Lincoln  came  up,  having 
found  the  nest  and  placed  the  young  birds  in  it. 
The  party  laughed  at  him,  but  he  said: 

"  '  I  could  not  have  slept  if  I  had  not  restored 
those  little  birds  to  their  mother.'  " 

The  Wild-Boar  Story  and  the  Unjust  Judge 

Lincoln's  peculiar  power  as  an  attorney-at-law 
is  well  illustrated  by  an  episode  related  by  Mr. 
Herndon  in  his  Life  of  Lincoln,  wherein  his  feel- 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    63 

ings  of  indignation  were  thoroughly  aroused,  and 
expressed  in  a  spirited,  at  times  eloquent,  as  well 
as  humorous  manner.     He  says: 

"  I  remember  a  murder  case  in  which  we  ap- 
peared for  the  defense,  and  during  the  trial  of 
which  the  judge — a  man  of  ability  far  inferior  to 
Lincoln's — kept  ruling  against  us. 

"  Finally,  a  very  material  question — in  fact, 
one  around  which  the  entire  case  seemed  to  re- 
volve— came  up,  and  again  the  court  ruled  ad- 
versely. 

"  The  prosecution  was  jubilant,  and  Lincoln, 
seeing  defeat  certain  unless  he  recovered  his 
ground,  grew  very  despondent. 

"  The  notion  crept  into  his  head  that  the 
court's  rulings,  which  were  absurd  and  almost 
spiteful,  were  aimed  at  him,  and  this  angered  him 
beyond  reason.  He  told  of  his  feelings  at  dinner, 
and  said: 

"  c  I  have  determined  to  crowd  the  court  to 
the  wall  and  regain  my  position  before  night.' 

"  From  that  time  forward  it  was  interesting  to 
watch  him. 

"  At  the  reassembling  of  court  he  arose  to 
read  a  few  authorities  in  support  of  his  position, 
keeping  within  the  bounds  of  propriety  just  far 
enough  to  avoid  a  reprimand  of  the  court.  He 
characterized  the  continuous  rulings  against  him 
as  not  only  unjust  but  foolish,  and,  figuratively 


64  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

speaking,    he    peeled    the    court    from    head    to 
foot. 

"  Lincoln  had  the  crowd,  a  portion  of  the  bar, 
and  the  jury  Avith  him,  and  this  nerved  him  to  a 
feeling  of  desperation.  He  was,  in  fact,  '  mad 
all  over.' 

"  He  had  studied  up  the  points  involved,  but, 
knowing  full  well  the  caliber  of  the  judge,  Lincoln 
relied  mostly  on  the  moral  effect  of  his  personal 
bearing  and  influence. 

"  He  was  alternately  furious  and  eloquent, 
and  after  pursuing  the  court  with  broad  facts  and 
pointed  inquiries  in  rapid  succession,  he  made  use 
of  this  homely  incident  to  clinch  his  argument. 
He  said: 

k  In  early  days,  a  party  of  men  went  out 
hunting  for  a  wild  boar.  But  the  game  came 
upon  them  unawares,  and,  scampering  away,  they 
all  climbed  trees  save  one,  who,  seizing  the  animal 
by  the  ears,  undertook  to  hold  him. 

"  '  After  holding  on  for  some  time  and  feeling 
his  strength  giving  way,  he  cried  out  to  his  com- 
panions in  the  trees: 

"  For   God's   sake,   boys,    come    down    and 
help  me  let  go !  "  ' 

"  The  prosecution  tried  in  vain  to  break  him 
down,  and  the  judge,  badgered  effectually  by  Lin- 
coln's masterly  arraignment  of  law  and  fact,  pre- 
tended to  see  the  error  of  his  former  position,  and 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    65 

finally  reversed  his  decision  in  his  tormentor's  fa- 
vor. Lincoln  saw  his  triumph,  and  surveyed  a 
situation  of  which  he  was  master. 

"  His  client  was  acquitted,  and  he  had  swept 
the  field." 

Lincoln 's  "  Sloiv-Horse  Story  " 

Shortly  before  the  election  an  artist,  Mr. 
Alban  J.  Conant,  of  New  York,  went  to  Spring- 
field to  paint  the  "  rail-splitter's  "  portrait.  The 
painter  found  him  in  a  large  room  of  the  State- 
house  surrounded  by  clerks  and  messengers,  with 
piles  of  letters  and  telegrams  before  him ;  but,  al- 
though he  was  extremely  busy,  he  granted  the  artist 
a  sitting  of  one  hour  each  day.  Mr.  Conant  de- 
scribes his  face  wdien  "  at  rest  as  invariably  sad 
and  abstracted,  but  when  pleased  and  interested 
this  changed  to  one  of  animation  and  f orcefulness." 

To  gain  his  attention  and  keep  his  expression 
the  painter  told  him  stories,  at  one  of  which  he 
laughed  so  heartily  as  to  be  heard  throughout  the 
entire  building.  Lincoln  did  not  forget  that 
story,  and  told  it  many  times  after  he  became 
President,  never  failing  to  credit  it  to  Alban  J. 
Conant  the  painter. 

Lincoln  called  it  the  "  slow-horse  story."  It 
ran  in  this  way:  A  lawyer  in  a  Western  town  de- 
sired the  nomination  for  county  judge,  and,  on 
the  morning  preceding  the  evening  on  which  the 


66  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

county  convention  was  to  meet,  applied  to  the 
livery-stable  keeper  in  his  village  for  a  horse  and 
buggy  in  which  to  drive  to  the  county  town,  six- 
teen miles  distant,  where  the  convention  was  to 
be  held.  "  Give  me  the  best  and  fastest  horse  you 
have,  Sam,"  said  he,  "  so  that  I  will  have  time  to 
go  around  and  see  the  boys  before  the  convention 
comes  in.'7  The  liveryman,  however,  was  sup- 
porting a  rival  candidate,  and  gave  our  hero  a 
horse  that  outwardly  appeared  perfect,  but  which 
broke  down  entirely  before  half  of  the  journey 
was  performed,  so  that,  when  the  candidate  ar- 
rived, the  convention  had  adjourned  and  his  rival 
had  been  nominated. 

On  his  return  to  the  stable  late  the  following 
afternoon,  knowing  that  it  was  useless  to  resent 
the  trick  played  upon  him,  he  said  to  the  owner: 
"  Look  here,  Smith,  you  must  be  training  this 
horse  for  the  New  York  market.  Expect  to  sell 
him  to  an  undertaker  for  a  hearse  horse,  don't 
you,  and  at  a  good  round  price?  "  Mr.  Smith 
protested  that  the  beast  was  one  of  his  best 
horses. 

"  Oh,  don't  deny  it!  "  said  the  candidate. 
"  I  know  by  his  gait  you  have  spent  days  train- 
ing him  to  pull  a  hearse;  but  it's  all  time  wasted. 
He  will  prove  a  dead  failure.  He's  altogether 
too  slow.  He  couldn't  get  a  corpse  to  the  ceme- 
tery in  time  for  the  resurrection." 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    67 


Lincoln  marries — Partner  of  Logan;  of  Hemdon — 
Makes  Speeches  for  Clay— Elected  to  Congress 

On  November  4,  1842,  Mr.  Lincoln  married 
Miss  Mary  Todd  at  Springfield.     This  same  year 
he   enlisted  in  the  temperance  movement.      The 
year   before    (1841)    Lin- 
coln had  retired  from  the 
partnership    with    Stuart, 
who  had  been  elected  to 
Congress,    and   associated 
himself  with  S.  T.  Logan. 
In   1843  he   severed   this 
connection    because    Mr. 
Logan  as  well  as  himself 
aspired  to  be  sent  to  Con- 
gress.    He  then  took  Mr. 
Herndon  as  partner,  but 

did  not  succeed  in  getting  the  nomination  to  Con- 
gress. In  1844  he  was  a  presidential  elector,  and 
made  campaign  speeches  throughout  Illinois  for 
Clay  and  Polk;  was  nominated  for  Congress  May 
1,  1846,  and  elected.  He  opposed  the  Mexican 
War,  considering  it  a  war  of  conquest,  unjust  and 
unnecessary. 

On  July  10,  1848,  he  wrote  his  partner  a  letter, 
in  which  the  following  wise  sentence  occurs: 

"  The  way  for  a  young  man  to  rise  is  to  im- 
prove himself  every  way  he  can,  never  suspecting 
that  anybody  wishes  to  hinder  him."     He  made 


ofZe^z^Ucu  i7^o^cf-^ 


68  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

speeches  for  Taylor  in  New  England,  also  in  Illi- 
nois, and  after  Taylor's  election  he  introduced  a  bill 
in  Congress  looking  to  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  It  received  no 
consideration.  He  was  offered  the  position  of  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Territory  of  Oregon  by  President 
Taylor,  but  declined,  and  returned  to  his  home  in 
Springfield  to  practise  law. 

Lincoln's  Eloquent  Appeal  compels  Tivo  Young  Men 
to  pay  for  a  Team  of  Oxen,  though  the  Laiv 
rendered  them,  as  Minors,  not  Liable  for  the  Bill 

Mr.  Herndon,  Lincoln's  partner,  relates  that 
in  the  spring  of  1847  Lincoln,  then  a  Congress- 
man, was  employed  by  an  old  man  by  the  name 
of  Case  to  collect  a  note  of  two  hundred  dollars 
signed  by  Snow  brothers,  who,  pleading  the  minor 
act,  refused  to  pay  it. 

The  brothers  did  not  deny  the  note,  but, 
through  their  lawyer,  pleaded  that  they  were 
minors,  and  that  old  Mr.  Case  knew  that  fact 
when  they  gave  him  the  note.  Lincoln  admitted 
all  this,  saying,  "  Yes,  gentlemen,  I  reckon  that's 
so."  The  minor  act  was  read  to  the  jury,  and 
every  one  thought  that  Lincoln  had  given  his  case 
away,  and  would  submit  to  the  injustice  to  his 
client  in  silence,  because  the  law  plainly  stated 
that  minors  could  not  be  held  liable  for  debt. 
Lincoln,  however,  arose,  and  in  a  quiet  tone  said: 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    69 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  are  you  willing  to 
allow  these  boys  to  begin  life  with  this  shame  and 
disgrace  attached  to  their  characters?  If  yon  are, 
I  am  not.  The  best  judge  of  human  nature  that 
ever  wrote  has  left  these  immortal  words  for  all 
of  us  to  ponder: 

"  '  Good  name  in  man  and  woman,  dear  my  lord, 
Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls  : 

Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash  ;  'tis  something,  nothing ; 
'Twas  mine,  'tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands; 
But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name, 
Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 
And  makes  me  poor  indeed.'  " 

Then,  rising  to  his  fnll  height,  and  looking 
down  upon  the  young  men  with  the  compassion  of 
a  brother,  his  long  right  arm  pointing  to  the  op- 
posing lawyers,  he  continued: 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  these  poor  innocent 
boys  would  never  have  attempted  this  low  villainy 
had  it  not  been  for  the  advice  of  these  men."  He 
then  showed  how  the  noble  science  of  law  might  be 
prostituted,  and  with  a  scathing  rebuke  to  those 
who  thus  belittled  their  profession,  he  concluded: 
"  And  now,  gentlemen,  you  have  it  in  your  power 
to  set  these  boys  right  before  the  world." 

Thus,  pleading  for  the  boys  and  their  good 
name,  he  left  the  case  to  the  jury,  which  with- 
out leaving  their  seats  decided  that  the  boys 
must  pay  the  debt;  and  the  latter,  after  listening 
to  Mr.  Lincoln,  were  willing  and  glad  to  do  it. 


CHAPTER    IX 

Lincoln,  the  little  girl  and  her  trunk— His  little  son  Willie 
runs  naked  from  his  bath — The  widow's  pension  case — 
"  Skin  Wright  and  close  " — He  gives  a  mean  lawyer  some 
good  advice — Gives  his  opponent's  their  case  because  it  was 
just — His  defense  of  William  Armstrong. 

One  morning,  some  time  after  Lincoln  had  re- 
turned to  Springfield  to  practise  as  a  lawyer, 
while  he  was  walking  down-town  to  his  office,  he 
noticed  a  little  girl  standing  at  the  gate  in  front 
of  her  house  crying  as  though  her  heart  would 
break.  He  stopped  and  asked,  "  What's  the  mat- 
ter, my  little  girl  %  " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Lincoln !  "  she  exclaimed  between 
her  sobs,  "  I  shall  miss  the  train,  because  the  ex- 
pressman has  not  come  to  take  my  trunk  as  he 
promised."     And  she  burst  out  crying  again. 

"  That's  too  bad,  that  is  too  bad,"  said  Lin- 
coln, patting  her  on  the  head.  "  Where  were  you 
going?  "  he  added. 

She  answered,  "  I  was  going  to  visit  my 
aunt  with  a  little  friend,  and  it's  to  be  my  first 
trip  on  the  cars;  and,  oh,  I  have  planned  about 
70 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND   LAWYER    ft 

it  and  even  dreamed  about  it  for  weeks!  And 
now  it's  most  train  time:  my  little  friend  will  be 

waiting  at  the  station,  and  auntie  too;  and " 

Here  her  sobs  broke  into  her  story,  and  her  little 
body  shook  with  the  effort  of  crying  so  hard. 

Lincoln  was  touched.  "  How  big  is  the  trunk? 
There's  still  time,  I  guess,  if  it's  not  too  big." 
Saying  this,  he  pushed  by  the  gate  and  up  to  the 
door. 

The  little  girl's  mother  showed  him  to  the 
room,  where  there  was  a  little  old-fashioned  trav- 
eling trunk,  locked  and  tied. 

"  Oh,  ho !  "  cried  Lincoln.  "  Wipe  your,  eyes, 
and  come  quick.  We'll  catch  the  train  yet,  I 
guess." 

He  picked  up  the  trunk,  threw  it  on  his 
shoulder,  and  strode  out  through  the  yard  into  the 
street,  the  little  girl  trotting  by  his  side,  and  dry- 
ing her  eyes  as  she  went.  Pretty  soon  they  heard 
the  rumbling  of  the  train  approaching  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  the  toot  of  the  whistle. 

"  Take  my  hand,  little  one,"  said  Lincoln, 
"  and  we'll  get  there."  So,  hastening  his  steps, 
carrying  the  trunk  on  his  shoulder  and  holding 
the  little  girl's  hand,  they  hurried  on  and  reached 
the  station  just  as  the  train  rolled  in. 

Lincoln  put  the  child  on  the  train,  kissed  her 
good-by,  and  cried  out,  "  Now,  have  a  real  good 
time!  " 


72  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Hoiv  Little  Willie  Lincoln  ran  aivay  from  his  Bath 
Tub 

Lincoln  was  very  fond  of  his  little  boys,  and 
enjoyed  their  pranks,  often  laughing  at  their 
childish  ways.  One  morning  during  this  period 
of  his  life  in  Springfield,  when  his  son  Willie  was 
about  three  or  four  years  old,  his  mother  was 
giving  him  a  bath  in  a  big  tub;  the  little  fellow, 
screaming  with  fun,  suddenly  jumped  away  from 
her  and  scampered  out  of  doors. 

His  father  was  sitting  on  the  front  porch  read- 
ing the  papers,  and  hearing  the  noise,  looked  up, 
bursting  into  a  hearty  laugh  at  the  comical  sight. 
The  little  fellow,  meanwhile,  ran  out  into  the 
street,  and  crawled  under  the  fence  into  the  field 
of  young  corn  that  was  growing  near  the  house. 

Lincoln  sprang  up  from  his  seat,  watching  the 
boy's  small  pink  and  white  legs  twinkle  along  the 
sidewalk,  and  shaking  with  laughter.  But  his  en- 
joyment of  the  fun  was  cut  short  by  the  mother's 
appearing  on  the  scene,  exclaiming: 

"  Eun  and  catch  him,  dear,  and  don't  stand 
there  all  day  laughing  yourself  to  death.  There 
he  goes  now  in  the  corn-field,"  she  added;  "  run 
quick!  " 

Sure  enough,  Willie  was  now  running  as  fast 
as  his  little  legs  would  carry  him  in  between  the 
rows  of  corn. 

Lincoln  then  started  after  him,  and  the  little 


FIFTH   PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND   LAWYER    73 

fellow,  screaming  with,  delight,  ran  faster  than 
ever.  Meanwhile  the  neighbors  had  been  at- 
tracted by  the  noise,  and  some  were  looking  out 
of  the  windows  and  doors  of  the  nearest  houses, 
while  some  stopped  on  the  sidewalk,  all  laughing 
at  the  chase  of  the  little  naked  boy  by  his  great, 
tall'  father,  who  was  now  quite  a  celebrated  man. 
It  took  the  father  but  a  few  minutes  with  his  long 
strides  to  catch  the  runaway,  who,  when  he 
reached  him,  was  laughing  in  roguish  glee.  Lin- 
coln picked  him  up,  and  covering  his  rosy  little 
body  with  many  kisses,  tossed  him  on  to  his  shoul- 
ders, put  his  legs  about  his  neck,  and  so  carried 
him  in  triumph  back  to  his  mother  and  the  tub, 
to  the  great  amusement  of  the  neighbors. 

Lincoln  studies  Shakespeare  and  Poetry 

During  the  six  years  following  his  retirement 
from  Congress,  Lincoln  studied  a  great  deal,  de- 
voting much  time  to  poetry  and  geometry.  Shake- 
speare especially  attracted  him,  and  when  travel- 
ing on  the  circuit,  Lincoln  was  always  the  first  to 
be  up  in  the  morning,  many  times  his  room-mates 
and  fellow-travelers  awakening  to  find  him  repeat- 
ing over  or  committing  to  memory  some  verses  of 
poetry. 

Tell  me,  Ye  Winged  Winds,  by  Maekey ;  Im- 
mortality; and  later,  Why  Should  the  Spirit  of 
Mortals  be  Proud,  were  his  favorite  poems.     Dur- 


74  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ing'  this  period  Elmer  E.  Ellsworth,  of  Zouave 
fame,  was  for  a  short  time  in  Lincoln's  office  as  a 
student  of  law. 

The  Widow's  Pension  Case — "  Shin  Wright  and 
Close  " 

At  this  time,  while  Lincoln  was  thus  making 
a  great  name  as  a  lawyer  in  Springfield,  Illinois, 
an  old  woman,  crippled  and  bent  with  age,  came 
hobbling  into  the  office  one  day  and  told  the  story 
of  her  suffering  and  injustice.  She  related  how 
one-half  of  her  pension  of  four  hundred  dollars, 
all  she  had  in  the  world  to  depend  upon,  had  been 
kept  by  the  pension  agent  (a  Mr.  Wright),  who 
refused  to  give  her  the  balance. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  so  stirred  up  by  the  recital 
that  he  at  once  put  on  his  hat,  and,  walking  over 
to  the  agent's  office,  made  a  demand  for  a  re- 
turn of  the  money  at  once.  This  being  refused, 
the  suit  was  immediately  brought  before  the 
court. 

A  few  days  before  the  trial  Lincoln  refreshed 
his  memory  of  the  Revolutionary  War  by  reading 
some  parts  of  the  history  over  again. 

He  said  to  his  partner,  Mr.  Herndon,  before 
the  trial:  "You'd  better  stay  until  after  my  ad- 
dress to  the  jury,  for  I'm  going  to  skin  Wright 
and  get  that  money  back  for  the  widow." 

After  the  poor  old  woman  had,  through  her 


The  Lincoln  residence,  Springfield. 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND   LAWYER    ?5 

tears,  told  her  story  to  the  jury,  Lincoln  arose  and 
began  his  address  by  recounting  the  causes  lead- 
ing to  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle. 
He  then  drew  a  vivid  picture  of  the  hardships  at 
Valley  Forge,  describing  with  minuteness  the  men, 
barefooted  and  with  bleeding  feet,  creeping  over 
the  snow  and  ice.  As  he  told  of  the  cruel  treat- 
ment of  the  old  lady  by  the  pension  agent  his  eyes 
flashed  with  indignation,  an  eye-witness  stating 
that  "  he  never  saw  Lincoln  so  wrought  up." 

Before  he  closed  his  speech  he  drew  an  ideal 
picture  of  the  woman's  husband,  the  dead  soldier, 
parting  with  his  wife  at  the  threshold  of  their 
home,  and  kissing  their  little  babe  in  the  cradle 
as  he  started  for  the  war. 

"  Time  rolls  by,"  he  said  in  conclusion ;  "  the 
heroes  of  '76  have  passed  away  and  are  encamped 
on  the  other  shore.  The  soldier  has  gone  to  rest, 
and  now,  crippled,  blinded,  and  broken,  the  widow 
comes  to  you  and  to  me,  gentlemen  of  the  jury, 
to  right  her  wrongs.  She  was  not  always  thus : 
she  was  once  a  beautiful  young  woman.  Her  step 
was  elastic,  her  face  was  fair,  and  her  voice  as 
sweet  as  any  that  rang  in  the  mountains  of  old 
Virginia.  But  now  she  is  poor  and  defenseless ; 
out  here  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  hundreds  of 
miles  away  from  the  scenes  of  her  childhood,  she 
appeals  to  us,  who  enjoy  the  privileges  achieved 
for  us  by  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  for  our 


76  LINCOLN  IN   STORY 

sympathetic  aid  and  manly  protection.     All  I  ask 
is,  Shall  we  befriend  her?" 

At  the  conclusion  half  the  jurymen  were 
in  tears,  while  the  pension  agent  sat,  ashamed, 
drawn  up,  and  writhing  under  Mr.  Lincoln's 
fierce  invective.  The  jury  returned  a  verdict 
in  favor  of  the  widow,  who  could  not  find  words 
to  express  her  gratitude  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Lin- 
coln was  so  much  interested  in  the  woman  that 
he  became  security  for  her  costs,  paid  her  way 
home,  as  well  as  her  hotel  bill  while  attending  the 
suit.  He  also  sent  her  the  money  and  would  not 
take  a  penny  for  his  services. 

Lincoln's  notes  for  the  case  were  as  follows: 
"  ~No  contract. — Not  professional  services. — 
Unreasonable  charge. — Money  retained  by  the 
agent  not  given  by  the  widow. — Revolutionary 
"War. — Describe  Valley  Forge  privations. — Ice. — 
Soldiers'  bleeding  feet. — The  woman's  husband. — 
Shin  Wright— Close." 

Lincoln  gives  a  Mean  Man  some  Good  Advice 

One  of  Lincoln's  chief  traits  of  character  was 
his  love  of  truth  and  justice.  As  a  lawyer  he 
would  never  take  a  case  to  defend  a  guilty  man; 
but  many  times  he  would  give  his  services  for 
nothing  in  defending  an  innocent  person. 

Mr.  Herndon,  his  partner,  tells  of  a  case  where 
a  mean  man  came  to  see  Lincoln  about  suing  a 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    7? 

poor  widow  with  six  children,  and  after  hearing 
him  state  his  case  Lincoln  said  to  him:  "  Yes, 
there  is  no  reasonable  doubt  but  that  I  can  gain 
your  case  for  you.  I  can  set  a  whole  township  at 
loggerheads;  I  can  distress  a  poor  widow  and  her 
six  fatherless  children,  and  thereby  get  for  you  six 
hundred  dollars  which  rightfully  belongs,  it  ap- 
pears to  me,  as  much  to  them  as  to  you.  I  shall 
not  take  your  case,  but  I  will  give  you  a  little  ad- 
vice for  nothing.  You  seem  an  active,  energetic 
man.  i"  would  advise  you  to  try  your  hand  at 
making  six  hundred  dollars  in  some  other  way." 

Lincoln's    Candor — He    gives    Ms    Opponents    their 
Case  because  his  Clients  were  in  the  Wrong 

A  lawyer  in  Beardstown,  Illinois,  said,  speak- 
ing of  Lincoln :  "  He  came  into  my  office  one  day 
with  the  remark,  i  I  see  you've  been  suing  one  of 
my  clients,  and  I've  come  down  to  see  about  it.' 
He  spoke  about  a  suit  I  had  brought  to  enforce 
the  fulfillment  of  a  contract.  I  explained  the  case 
to  him,  and  showed  my  proofs.  He  seemed  sur- 
prised that  I  should  deal  so  frankly  with  him,  and 
said  he  would  be  equally  frank  with  me. 

"  He  said  my  client  was  justly  entitled  to  the 
decree  of  the  court,  and  he  would  so  state  it  at  the 
trial;  and  that  it  was  against  his  principles  to  con- 
test a  clear  matter  of  right.  So  my  client  got  a 
deed  for  a  farm  which,  had  another  less  honest 


Y8  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

lawyer  been  in  Lincoln's  place,  would  have  been 
eaten  up  by  the  costs  of  the  suit,  and  the  final 
result  would  have  been  the  same.'7 

Lincoln 's  Defense  of  William  Armstrong 

By  this  time  Lincoln  &  llerndon  had  become 
one  of  the  best-known  and  most  reliable  law  firms 
in  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Their  services  were  in  great  demand,  not  only 
because  of  the  well-known  shrewdness  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, but  also  because  of  his  honesty,  his  truthful- 
ness, and  absolute  reliability.  Before  entering  on 
the  next  period,  which  will  be  devoted  to  the  poli- 
tician and  statesman,  it  may  be  as  well  to  relate 
here  the  story  of  Lincoln's  defense  of  William 
Armstrong,  although  it  occurred  in  1858,  after  he 
had  practically  given  up  law  practise  for  two 
years,  and  while  he  was  engaged  in  the  great  cam- 
paign which  resulted,  two  years  later,  in  his  elec- 
tion as  President  of  the  United  States. 

William  Armstrong,  the  son  of  Lincoln's  old- 
time  friend,  Jack  Armstrong  (one  of  the  "  Clary's 
Grove  boys,"  with  whom  he  had  wrestled  at  !New 
Salem),  had  been  arrested  for  a  murder  in  May, 
1858,  at  Beardstown,  Illinois.  It  appeared  that 
Armstrong  and  a  companion,  after  getting  quite 
drunk,  had  quarreled  with  a  man  named  Metzger, 
and  that  blows  had  passed  between  them.  The 
day  following  the  quarrel  Metzger  died,  and  two 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    79 

serious  wounds  upon  his  Lead  indicated  that  he 
had  been  struck  by  some  weapon  in  the  hands  of 
another  man.  The  evidence  all  tended  to  prove 
Armstrong  guilty,  though  he  stoutly  affirmed  his 
innocence,  and  stated  that  he  had  only  struck  him 
with  his  fist,  and  not  very  hard  either.  It  was  also 
shown  that  the  man  Metzger,  on  his  way  home 
with  his  yoke  of  oxen,  had  been  hit  on  the  head 
by  the  end  of  the  yoke  and  knocked  down.  Still, 
one  man  swore  that  he  saw  Armstrong  strike  him 
with  a  sling-shot. 

Lincoln,  responding  to  Armstrong's  mother's 
appeal,  left  his  campaign  speeches  and  went  down 
to  see  what  he  could  do  to  help  the  poor  boy  out 
of  his  difficulty,  and  if  possible  save  him  from 
the  gallows.  After  he  had  talked  with  Armstrong, 
he  was  convinced  of  his  innocence. 

When  the  trial  came  on,  however,  the  testi- 
mony of  one  man  was  so  positive  that  he  had 
seen  the  blow  struck,  that  Lincoln's  case  seemed 
hopeless. 

But  Lincoln  said,  "  How  could  you  have 
seen  him  strike  the  fatal  blow  when,  accord- 
ing to  all  the  evidence,  the  quarrel  occurred  be- 
tween eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  where 
there  was  no  light  of  any  kind  near?  " 

The  man  quickly'  replied,  "  I  saw  it  by  the 
light  of  the  moon." 

This   seemed   decisive,   and   Lincoln   appeared 


80  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

for  the  moment  to  be  discouraged.  There  was 
so  much  at  stake,  however — not  only  young 
Armstrong's  life,  but  his  widowed  mother's  happi- 
ness also — that  Lincoln,  after  the  court  adjourned 
for  the  day,  kept  thinking  and  worrying  over  it. 
All  at  once  he  thought,  "  Suppose  I  can  prove 
that  the  moon  was  not  shining  that  night,  and  that 
therefore  this  man's  evidence  is  false !  "  So  he 
hunted  up  the  almanac,  and  before  he  went  to  bed 
that  night  he  felt  sure  he  would  -succeed  in  freeing 
his  old  friend's  unfortunate  boy. 

Next  day  when  he  opened  his  address  for  the 
defense  he  laid  especial  stress  upon  the  testimony 
of  this  one  man,  and  pointed  out  that  his  was  the 
only  direct  evidence  against  the  prisoner. 

After  making  it  plain  to  the  jury  that  with- 
out this  man's  moonlight  story  there  was  noth- 
ing upon  which  to  convict  his  client,  he  said: 
"  Now,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  propose  to 
prove  to  you  that  this  evidence  is  absolutely  false. 
I  hold  in  my  hand  the  proof  that  upon  the  night 
of  the  supposed  murder  there  was  no  moon  in  the 
sky,  but  that  it  had  set  several  hours  before  the 
time  the  fight  occurred." 

He  then  handed  the  almanac,  which  he  had 
brought  with  him,  to  the  jury,  and  the  sensation 
created  by  Lincoln's  discovery  was  plainly  shown 
in  the  faces  of  the  men. 

The  advantage  he  had  thus  gained  he  followed 


FIFTH  PERIOD:    LEGISLATOR  AND  LAWYER    81 

up  with  an  eloquent  appeal  in  favor  of  Armstrong. 
He  reminded  them  that  old  Hannah  Armstrong, 
the  friend  of  his  youth,  had  begged  him  to  de- 
fend her  boy;  that  he  had  no  other  interest  in 
the  trial  than  securing  justice  for  the  prisoner. 
He  was  not  working  for  a  fee,  but  for  the  cause 
of  right. 

He  told  the  jury  of  his  once  being  a  poor, 
friendless  boy  himself;  that  Armstrong's  parents 
took  him  to  their  house,  fed,  and  clothed  him,  and 
gave  him  a  home.  As  he  went  on  with  his  per- 
sonal narrative  his  eyes  filled  with  tears,  his  voice 
choked,  and  his  tall  form  quivered  with  the  pow- 
erful emotions  that  swept  over  him  as  he  thought 
of  his  own  early  struggles  in  life. 

The  story,  so  pathetically  told,  moved  the  jury 
to  tears  also,  and  they  forgot  the  supposed  guilt 
of  the  prisoner  in  their  admiration  and  sympathy 
for  his  advocate. 

On  the  morning  of  the  trial,  Lincoln  had  told 
the  mother,  "  Your  son  will  be  free  before  sun- 
down," which  proved  true,  for  the  jury  brought 
in  a  verdict  of  "  Xot  guilty." 

The  defendant's  mother,  Hannah  Armstrong, 
speaking  of  it  afterward,  said:  "Lincoln  had  said 
to  me,  '  Hannah,  your  son  will  be  cleared  before 
sundown.'  I  left  the  court-room,  and  they  came 
and  told  me  that  my  son  was  cleared  and  a  free 
man.  I  went  up  to  the  court-house.  The  jury 
6 


82  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

shook  hands  with  me;  so  did  the  judge  and  Lin- 
coln. Tears  streamed  down  Lincoln's  cheeks.  I 
asked  him  after  the  trial  what  his  fee  would  be. 
'  Why,  Hannah/  he  said,  '  I  sha'n't  charge  you  a 
cent,  and  anything  else  I  can  do  for  you  I  will  do 
it  willingly  without  charge.'  " 


SIXTH    PERIOD:    THE    STATESMAN 

(1855-1860) 


CHAPTEE    X 

Lincoln  again  enters  the  field  of  politics — Chosen  to  answer 
Douglas — Assists  in  organizing  the  Republican  party — An 
audience  of  two — Challenges  "  the  Little  Giant  " — The 
great  speech  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence — The 
question  which  defeated  him  for  the  Senate — "  The  bul- 
wark of  liberty "  speech — Nominated  and  elected  Presi- 
dent— Prophetic  soliloquy — He  leaves  Springfield — The 
plot  to  assassinate  him  at  Baltimore. 

The  outrages  in  the  States  of  Kansas  and 
Missouri  in  1855,  following  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,  which  originated  with 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  admitted  slavery 
into  those  States,  aroused  Lincoln  from  his  long 
silence;  and  when  Douglas  returned  to  Illinois 
as  the  lion  of  the  day,  and  opened  the  campaign 
in  Springfield  with  a  speech  in  defense  of  his 
bill,  which  had  been  passed  by  Congress,  Lincoln 
was  chosen  by  his  party  to  answer  him.  This  he 
did  with  such  great  success  that  the  Springfield 
Journal  said: 


84  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  The  anti-Xebraska  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  the  profoundest,  in  our  opinion,  that  he  has 
made  in  his  whole  life.  He  felt  upon  his  soul  the 
truths  burn  which  he  uttered,  and  all  present  felt 
that  he  was  true  to  his  own  soul.  His  feelings 
once  or  twice  swelled  within,  and  came  near  sti- 
fling utterance.  He  quivered  with  emotion.  The 
whole  house  was  still  as  death.  He  was  most 
successful,  and  the  house  approved  the  glori- 
ous triumph  of  truth  by  loud  and  continued 
huzzas. " 

At  the  instigation  of  his  friends,  he  followed 
Senator  Douglas  and  made  speeches  either  imme- 
diately after  him  in  the  same  town,  or  by  arrange- 
ment with  him  upon  the  same  platform.  Douglas, 
however,  soon  tired  of  his  agreement,  and  begged 
Lincoln's  consent  to  give  up  the  mutual  de- 
bates. 

Lincoln  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  during 
this  campaign,  but  resigned,  intending  to  run  for 
the  United  States  Senate.  This  he  did,  but  was 
defeated  by  Lyman  Trumbull. 

While  Lincoln  was  always  against  slavery,  he 
did  not  sanction  the  methods  of  the  abolitionists. 
He  declared,  "  Let  there  be  peace.  Revolutionize 
through  the  ballot-box,  and  restore  the  Government 
once  more  to  the  affections  and  hearts  of  men  by 
malcing  it  express,  as  it  was  intended  to  do,  the 
highest  spirit  of  justice  and  liberty." 


SIXTH  PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  85 

Lincoln  assists  in  organizing  the  Republican  Party 
in  the  State  of  Illinois 

Lincoln  assisted  in  the  organization  and  foun- 
dation of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois  at  a  con- 
vention held  in  Bloomington,  in  May,  1856,  mak- 
ing there  an  inspired  speech  and  taking  a  bold 
stand  against  slavery.  Upon  his  return  to  Spring- 
field a  public  meeting  was  advertised  to  ratify  the 
work  of  the  convention;  but  so  unpopular  were  his 
views  at  that  time  that  only  one  person  came,  aside 
from  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  partner.  A  Republican 
governor  was  elected,  however,  and  Lincoln  re- 
turned at  the  end  of  the  campaign  as  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  the  party  in  the  State — the  only 
man  who  had  been  able  to  cope  successfully  with 
"  the  Little  Giant"  as  Douglas  was  called. 

Lincoln,  nominated  for  the    United   States  Senate, 
challenges  Douglas  to  Public  Debate 

In  1858  the  Democratic  party  nominated 
Douglas  again  for  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
the  Republican  party  in  its  convention  resolved 
"  That  Hon.  Abraham  Lincoln  is  our  first  and  only 
choice  for  United  States  Senator."  In  his  opening 
speech  at  Springfield,  June  17,  1858,  he  spoke  as 
follows : 

"  A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand. 
I  believe  this  Government  can  not  endure  perma- 
nently half  free  and  half  slave.     I  do  not  expect 


86 


LINCOLN  IN  STORY 


the  Union  to  be  dissolved,  I  do  not  expect  the 
house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be 
divided.  It  will  become  all  the  one  thing  or  the 
other." 

Lincoln  challenged  Douglas  to  a  joint  debate, 
and  seven  meetings  were  arranged.  These  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  entire  country,  and 
gave  Lincoln  a  national  reputation. 

In  the  last  joint  discussion  with  Douglas,  Lin- 
coln said :  "  Slavery  is  the  real  issue.     That  is  the 

issue  that  will  continue  in 
this  country  when  these 
poor  tongues  of  Judge 
Douglas  and  myself  shall 
be  silent.  It  is  the  eter- 
nal struggle  between 
these  two  principles  — 
right      and      wrong  — 

t  tlKifiJlk    ^IPIlIlt*      throughout  the  world. 

"  The  one  is  the  com- 
mon right  of  humanity, 
and  the  other  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  It  is  the 
same  spirit  that  says  '  You 
work  and  toil  and  earn  bread,  and  I  eat  it.'  No 
matter  in  what  shape  it  comes,  whether  from  the 
mouth  of  a  king,  who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people 
of  his  own  nation  and  live  by  the  fruit  of  their 
labor,  or  from  one  race  of  men  as  an  apology  for 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  87 

enslaving  another  race,  it  is  the  same  tyrannical 
principle." 

Lincoln's   Great  Speech  on  the  Declaration  of 
Independence 

One  of  the  greatest  speeches  Lincoln  made 
during  this  remarkable  campaign  was  at  Beards- 
town,  Illinois,  on  August  12th,  the  subject  chosen 
being  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

After  alluding  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave- 
trade  by  the  fathers  of  the  Republic,  he  said : 

"  These  by  their  representatives  in  Old  Inde- 
pendence Hall  said  to  the  whole  race  of  men: 
'  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all 
men  are  created  free  and  equal;  that  they  are  en- 
dowed by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable 
rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness.' 

"  This  was  their  majestic  interpretation  of  the 
economy  of  the  universe.  This  was  their  lofty 
and  wise  and  noble  understanding  of  the  justice 
of  the  Creator  to  his  creatures,  to  the  whole  great 
family  of  man.  In  their  enlightened  belief,  noth- 
ing stamped  with  the  divine  image  and  likeness 
was  sent  into  this  world  to  be  trodden  on  and  de- 
graded and  imbruted  by  his  fellows. 

"  Wise  statesmen  as  they  were,  they  knew  the 
tendency  of  prosperity  to  beget  tyrants,  and  so 
they   established   these   great  self-evident   truths, 


88  LINCOLN  IN   STORY 

that  when,  in  the  distant  future,  some  man,  some 
faction,  some  interest,  should  set  up  the  doctrine 
that  none  but  rich  men,  none  but  white  men,  or 
none  but  Anglo-Saxon  white  men,  were  entitled  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  their 
posterity  might  look  up  again  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  take  courage  to  renew  the 
battle  their  forefathers  began,  so  that  truth  and 
justice  and  mercy,  and  all  humane  Christian  vir- 
tues, might  not  be  extinguished  from  the  land. 
So  that  no  man  would  dare  to  limit  and  circum- 
scribe the  great  principles  on  which  the  temple 
of  liberty  was  being  built. 

"  Now,  my  countrymen,  if  you  have  been 
taught  doctrines  conflicting  with  the  great  land- 
marks of  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  if  you 
have  listened  to  suggestions  which  would  take 
away  from  its  grandeur  and  mutilate  the  fair  sym- 
metry of  its  proportions;  if  you  have  been  in- 
clined to  believe  that  all  men  are  not  created  equal 
in  those  inalienable  rights  enumerated  in  our  chart 
of  liberty,  let  me  entreat  you  to  come  bach.  Return 
to  the  fountain  whose  ivaters  spring  close  by  the 
blood  of  the  Revolution.  Think  nothing  of  me; 
take  no  thought  for  the  political  fate  of  any  man 
whomsoever,  but  come  back  to  the  truths  that  are 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  You  may  do 
anything  with  me  you  choose,  if  you  will  but  heed 
these  sacred  principles.     You  may  not  only  defeat 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  89 

me  for  the  Senate,  but  you  may  take  me  and  put 
me  to  death. 

"  I  charge  you  to  drop  every  paltry  and  insig- 
nificant thought  for  any  man's  success.  It  is  noth- 
ing; I  am  nothing;  Judge  Douglas  is  nothing. 
But  do  not  destroy  that  immortal  emblem  of  hu- 
manity— the  Declaration  of  Independence."  * 

The  Question  that  defeated  Lincoln  for  the  United 
States  Senate 

Against  the  unanimous  disapproval  of  all  his 
friends,  Lincoln,  at  the  Freeport  discussion,  asked 
Douglas  the  following  question : 

"  Can  the  people  of  a  United  States  Territory 
in  a  lawful  way,  against  the  wish  of  any  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits 
prior  to  the  foundation  of  a  State  Constitution?  " 

His  friends  said :  "  Douglas  will  answer  it  in 
the  affirmative  and  will  thus  defeat  you  for  the 
Senate."  Regarding  this  Lincoln  said  to  one  of  his 
intimate  friends  (evidently  looking  to  the  future 
presidency):   "  I  am  after  larger  game;  the  battle 


*  Mr.  Horace  White,  who  reported  this  and  other  speeches  of 
Lincoln  for  the  Chicago  Tribune,  said  of  the  above  address : 
"It  was  his  greatest  inspiration.  He  was  tremendous  in  the 
directness  of  his  utterances.  He  rose  to  impassioned  eloquence, 
unsurpassed  by  Patrick  Henry,  Mirabeau,  or  Vergniaud,  as  his 
soul  was  inspired  by  the  thought  of  human  right  and  divine 
justice." 


90  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

of  1860   [the  presidency]  is  worth  a  hundred  of 
this." 

Lincoln  argued  with  his  friends  that  if  Douglas 
should  answer  the  question  in  the  negative  it 
would  defeat  him  (Douglas)  for  the  Senate;  and  if 
he  answered  it  affirmatively  it  would  prevent  his 
election  to  the  presidency  in  I860,  to  which  both 
were  then  aspiring.  Lincoln's  judgment  proved 
correct,  for  Douglas  answered  the  "  Freeport 
question  "  affirmatively,  and  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate  by  a  vote  of  fifty-four  to 
forty-six  for  Lincoln.  But  immediately  Douglas's 
speech  became  known  in  the  Southern  slave  States 
the  entire  press  denounced  his  "  Freeport  heresy  " 
in  severe  language,  and  it  was  this  revolt  of  the 
Southern  States  that  rendered  Douglas's  election 
to  the  presidency  two  years  later  impossible. 

The  Bulwark  of  Liberty  Speech 

One  of  the  most  powerful  and,  in  places,  elo- 
quent addresses  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln  during 
that  great  contest  between  the  "  Little  Giant " 
and  the  "  Kail-splitter,"  was  delivered  at  Ed- 
wardsville,  September  13th.  Among  other  things 
he  said: 

"  What  constitutes  the  bulwark  of  our  liberty 
and  independence?  It  is  not  our  frowning  battle- 
ments, our  bristling  seacoasts,  our  army  and  our 
navy.     These  are  not  our  reliance  against  tyranny. 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  91 

Our  reliance  is  the  love  of  liberty  which  God  has 
planted  in  us.  Our  defense  is  in  the  spirit  which 
prizes  liberty  as  the  heritage  of  all  men,  in  all 
lands,  everywhere.  Destroy  this  spirit  and  you 
have  planted  the  seeds  of  despotism  at  your  own 
doors.  Familiarize  yourselves  with  the  chains  of 
bondage  and  you  prepare  your  own  limbs  to  wear 
them.  Accustomed  to  trample  on  the  rights  of 
others,  you  have  lost  the  genius  of  your  own  inde- 
pendence, and  become  fit  subjects  of  the  first  cun- 
ning tyrant  who  rises  among  you." 

Lincoln's  Prophetic  Soliloquy 

"  I  know  there  is  a  God  " — "  I  may  not  see  the  end,  but  it  will 
come,  and  I  shall  be  vindicated." 

The  days  preceding  the  election  were  days  of 
intense  anxiety  to  Lincoln.  As  the  campaign  went 
on,  the  opposition  assailed  him  from  every  pos- 
sible standpoint.  His  enemies,  unable  to  attack 
his  integrity,  scoffed  at  his  humble  birth,  and 
called  him  an  atheist,  asserting  that  he  was  not  a 
church-member  and  did  not  believe  in  a  God. 

At  this  time,  Mr.  Newton  Bateman,  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction  in  Illinois,  states  that 
Lincoln  called  him  into  his  room,  which  was  then 
in  the  State-house  near  his  own  office,  and,  after 
locking  the  door,  he  said :  "  Let  us  look  over  this 
book.  I  wish  particularly  to  see  how  the  ministers 
of  Springfield  are  going  to  vote." 


92  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

He  thereupon  produced  a  book  containing  a 
careful  canvass  of  the  voters  of  Springfield  in 
which  each  stated  his  intention. 

The  leaves  were  turned  over  one  by  one,  and 
then  he  sat  silently  for  some  minutes  regarding  a 
memorandum  in  pencil  before  him.  At  length  he 
turned  to  Mr.  Bateman  with  a  face  full  of  sad- 
ness, and  said:  "Here  are  twenty-three  ministers 
of  different  denominations,  and  all  of  them  are 
against  me  but  three ;  and  here  are  a  great  many 
prominent  members  of  the  churches,  a  large  ma- 
jority of  whom  are  against  me. 

"  Mr.  Bateman,  I  am  not  a  Christian — God 
knows  I  would  be  one — but  I  have  carefully  read 
the  Bible,  and  I  do  not  so  understand  this  book," 
and  he  drew  from  his  breast-pocket  a  New  Testa- 
ment. "  These  men  all  know,"  he  continued, 
"  that  I  am  for  freedom  in  the  Territories,  free- 
dom everywhere  as  far  as  the  Constitution  and 
laws  permit,  and  that  my  opponents  are  for  slav- 
ery. They  know  this,  and  yet,  with  this  book  in 
their  hands,  in  the  light  of  which  human  bondage 
can  not  live  a  moment,  they  are  going  to  vote 
against  me. 

"  I  do  not  understand  it  all." 

Here  Lincoln  paused  for  several  minutes,  his 
features  surcharged  with  emotion.  Then  he 
walked  up  and  down  the  room  in  an  effort  to  re- 
tain or  regain  his  self-possession.     Stopping  at  last 


SIXTH  PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  93 

and  speaking  as  though  to  himself,  his  voice  still 
trembling  with  the  deep  emotion  which  possessed 
him  while  his  cheeks  were  wet  with  tears,  he 
said: 

"  I  know  there  is  a  God  and  that  he  hates  in- 
justice and  slavery.  I  see  the  storm  coming  and  I 
know  his  hand  is  in  it.  If  he  has  a  place  and 
work  for  me,  and  I  think  he  has,  I  believe  I  am 
ready. 

"  I  am  nothing,  but  truth  is  everything.  I 
know  I  am  right  because  I  know  that  liberty  is 
right.  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is  God.  I 
have  told  them  that  i  a  house  divided  against  itself 
can  not  stand,'  and  Christ  and  reason  say  the  same, 
and  they  will  find  it  so. 

"  Douglas  '  don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted 
up  or  down,'  but  God  cares,  and  humanity  cares, 
and  I  care,  and  with  God's  help  I  shall  not  fail, 
i"  may  not  see  the  end,  but  it  will  come,  and  I  shall  be 
vindicated,  and  these  men  will  find  they  did  not 
read  their  Bibles  right." 

This  was  spoken  as  though  to  himself  with  a 
sad  earnestness  of  manner  impossible  to  describe. 
After  a  pause  he  resumed,  addressing  Mr.  Bate- 
man: 

"  Doesn't  it  appear  strange  that  men  can 
ignore  the  moral  aspects  of  this  contest?  A  reve- 
lation could  not  make  it  plainer  to  me  that  slavery 
or    this    Government    must    be    destroyed.      The 


94  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

future  would  be  something  awful  as  I  look  at  it 
but  for  this  rock  on  which  I  stand. 

"  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with  this  thing 
[slavery]  until  the  very  teachers  of  religion  have 
come  to  defend  it  from  the  Bible,  and  to  claim 
for  it  Divine  character  and  sanction,  and  now  the 
cup  of  iniquity  is  full  and  the  vials  of  wrath  will 
be  poured  out." 

Nominated  and  Elected  President 

In  the  presidential  campaign  of  '60,  which 
resulted  in  Lincoln's  election,  Lincoln  was  in- 
vited to  speak  in  New  York  and  other  Eastern 
cities. 

His  speech  in  Cooper  Union,  New  York,  which 
had  been  prepared  with  much  care  and  labor, 
pleased  his  partisan  friends,  and  made  a  favorable 
impression  on  the  general  public,  though  the  oppo- 
sition ridiculed  him,  the  New  York  Herald  being 
especially  severe. 

LTpon  returning  to  his  home  in  Springfield, 
Illinois,  Lincoln  heard  himself  frequently  men- 
tioned as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  To  one 
friend  he  wrote,  "  I  do  not  think  I  am  fit  to  be 
President."  But  his  friends  in  Illinois  and  the 
West  would  have  it  otherwise,  and  at  the  conven- 
tion held  in  Chicago,  on  the  third  ballot,  Lincoln 
was  nominated,  and  on  November  6, 1860,  he  was 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  by  a  vote  of 


Photographed  in  I860. 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  95 

1,857,610,  Douglas  receiving  but  1,291,574,  Breck- 
inridge, 850,022,  and  Bell  616,124. 

Preparing  to  leave  Springfield — A  Visit  to  his  Aged 
Stepmother 

After  the  election,  Lincoln  remained  quietly  in 
Springfield  at  his  modest  home.  Before  leaving 
for  Washington,  to  assume  the  duties  of  the  Presi- 
dent, he  paid  a  visit  to  his  aged  stepmother  in 
Farmington,  Coles  County,  and  also  to  the  grave 
of  his  father,  leaving  orders  to  have  a  suitable 
tombstone  provided  for  it.  His  affectionate  part- 
ing with  the  good  old  woman  who  had  loved  him 
so  much  in  his  boyhood  days,  and  for  whom  he  had 
always  maintained  a  real  filial  devotion,  was  very 
affecting.  With  tears  streaming  down  her 
wrinkled  face,  she  gave  him  a  mother's  benedic- 
tion, expressing  the  fear  that  his  life  might  be 
taken  by  his  enemies.  The  scene  was  most  im- 
pressive and  left  a  deep  feeling  of  sorrow  on  the 
soul  of  Lincoln  as  he  returned  to  Springfield  to 
make  ready  for  his  departure  to  Washington.  He 
sold  his  household  goods  and  rented  his  house. 
He  said  to  his  law  partner,  Mr.  Herndon,  as  he 
was  leaving  the  office  for  the  last  time,  speaking  of 
the  sign-board  which  swung  on  the  rusty  hinges 
at  the  foot  of  the  stairway :  "  Let  it  hang  there 
undisturbed.  Give  our  clients  to  understand  that 
the  election  of  a  President  makes  no  change  in 


96  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

the  firm  of  Lincoln  &  Iierndon.  If  I  live  I'm 
coming  back  some  time,  and  then  we'll  go  right  on 
practising  law  as  if  nothing  had  happened."  He 
also  said  to  his  partner,  who  walked  with  him  to 
his  home,  that  "  the  sorrow  of  parting  from  his 
old  associations  was  deeper  than  most  persons 
wonld  imagine,  but  it  was  more  especially  marked 
because  of  the  feeling  which  had  fixed  itself  in  his 
mind  that  he  would  never  return  alive." 

Departure  from  Springfield  and  Farewell  to  his 
Friends 

On  the  morning  of  February  11,  1861,  the 
President  and  his  party  took  the  train  for  Wash- 
ington, the  intention  being  to  stop  over  at  Spring- 
field, Ohio,  Pittsburg,  Buffalo,  Albany,  New 
York,  and  Philadelphia.  At  all  of  these  places 
he  made  short  patriotic  speeches  which  made  an 
excellent  impression  throughout  the  country.  At 
the  railway  station,  before  the  train  started,  a 
large  crowd  of  friends  collected,  though  it  was  a 
stormy  morning.  Responding  to  their  calls,  Lin- 
coln stepped  out  upon  the  rear  platform  of  the  last 
car,  and,  pausing  for  a  moment  to  suppress  the 
evidences  of  his  emotion,  he  made  the  following 
brief  address: 

"  Friends:  No  one  who  has  never  been  placed 
in  a  like  position  can  understand  my  feelings  at 
this  hour,  nor  the  oppressive  sadness  I  feel  at  this 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  97 

parting.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  I 
have  lived  among  you,  and  during  all  that  time 
I  have  received  nothing  but  kindness  at  your 
hands. 

"  Here  I  have  lived  from  my  youth  until  now 
I  am  an  old  man.  Here  the  most  sacred  ties  of 
earth  were  assumed.  Here  all  my  children  were 
born.  To  you,  dear  friends,  I  owe  all  that  I  have, 
all  that  I  am.  All  the  strange  checkered  past 
seems  to  crowd  now  upon  my  mind.  So  I  leave 
you.  I  go  to  assume  a  task  more  difficult  than 
that  which  devolved  upon  Washington.  Unless 
the  great  God  who  assisted  him  shall  be  with  and 
aid  me,  I  must  fail;  but  if  the  same  omniscient 
mind  and  Almighty  arm  that  directed  and  pro- 
tected him  shall  guide  and  support  me,  I  shall  not 
fail — I  shall  succeed.  Let  us  pray  that  the  God 
of  our  fathers  may  not  forsake  us  now.  To  him 
I  commend  you  all.  Permit  me  to  ask  that  with 
equal  sincerity  and  faith  you  will  invoke  his  wis- 
dom and  guidance  for  me." 

The  Plot  to  Assassinate  Lincoln 

Immediately  after  the  election  of  Lincoln, 
threats  were  frequently  made  by  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that  he  should  not  be  permitted 
to  take  his  office.  These  soon  changed  to  the 
declaration  that  he  should  not  live  to  be  inaugu- 
rated.     But   the  people   of  the   North  who   had 


98  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

frequently  been  disappointed  in  the  defeat  of  their 
own  candidates  for  the  presidency,  and  had  always 
submitted  to  the  law,  supposed  that  these  threats 
were  the  result  of  the  great  disappointment  and 
chagrin  of  those  office-seekers  who  thought  Lin- 
coln, as  the  President,  meant  their  own  political 
ruin;  and  who,  in  the  bitterness  of  their  defeat, 
gave  vent  to  their  feelings  in  a  thoughtless  and 
hot-tempered  manner. 

As  the  time  for  Lincoln's  departure  for  Wash- 
ington approached,  these  threats  had  assumed  a 
more  definite  form;  and  the  press  announced  that 
there  was  a  rumor  in  Washington  that  a  plot  was 
on  foot  to  kill  him  before  he  should  reach  the 
Capital. 

Mr.  Norman  B.  Judd  and  some  other  per- 
sonal friends  of  Lincoln  in  Chicago,  as  a  result 
of  these  reports,  engaged  Allan  G.  Pinkerton,  the 
detective,  to  ferret  out  the  truth  of  the  rumors;  and 
men  had  already  been  sent  to  various  places,  nota- 
bly Washington  and  Baltimore,  to  discover  the 
plot,  and,  if  possible,  prevent  its  consummation. 

On  February  20th,  while  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
his  party  were  in  New  York  city  passing  on  their 
way  to  Washington,  a  female  detective,  acting 
under  Pinkerton's  orders,  called  on  Mr.  Judd  at 
the  Astor  House,  and  presented  him  with  such  an 
array  of  evidence  that  he  became  convinced  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  scheme. 


SIXTH  PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  99 

The  next  day,  after  they  had  arrived  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  at -Mr.  Jndd's  suggestion,  Mr.  Pinker- 
ton  himself  met  Lincoln  and  explained  to  him  the 
situation.  But  the  President  could  not  believe  it 
possible  that  his  life  was  really  in  danger,  and,  in 
spite  of  Mr.  Pinkerton's  warning,  did  not  then 
alter  his  intention  to  pass  through  Baltimore  at 
the  time  already  announced. 

Meanwhile  the  friends  in  AVashington  had  not 
been  idle,  and,  entirely  independent  of,  and  un- 
known to  Pinkerton,  had  discovered  the  following 
plot  in  detail: 

A  number  of  Baltimore  "  toughs  "  and  gam- 
blers, who  sympathized  with  the  secessionists,  had 
secretly  formed  a  conspiracy  to  kill  Mr.  Lincoln. 
They  had  already  hired  and  partially  paid  some 
Italian  murderers  to  stab  him  to  death  at  Balti- 
more, either  in  the  car  in  which  he  should  be,  or 
in  the  carriage  in  which  he  might  be  riding  from 
one  station  to  the  other;  this  plan  was  practicable 
for  the  reason  that  the  passenger  cars  could  be 
freely  approached  from  both  sides  as  they  re- 
mained standing  on  the  tracks,  and  it  was  calcu- 
lated that  an  immense  crowd  would  be  present 
surrounding  the  train.  In  this  throng  the  hired 
assassins  were  to  mingle,  and  with  a  number  of  ac- 
complices were  to  enter  the  car  and  stab  the  Presi- 
dent one  after  the  other  as  quickly  as  possible. 

They  planned  to  escape  into  the  throng,  and, 


100  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

in  the  confusion,  their  numerous  accomplices 
were  to  assist  them.  A  large  ocean  sailing-vessel 
lay  in  waiting  at  a  convenient  point  near  by,  on 
which  they  were  to  get  away  from  the  country. 
In  case  the  President  should  ride  across  the  city, 
his  carriage  was  to  be  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of 
his  enemies,  the  horses  stopped,  and  the  horrible 
crime  committed  there. 

The  son  of  William  H.  Seward  (afterward 
Secretary  of  State  under  Lincoln)  brought  the 
above  details  of  the  plot  to  Philadelphia  and  re- 
lated his  story  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  friends  on 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  (February  21st)  that 
Mr.  Pinkerton  had  shown  him  the  evidence  he  had, 
with  his  male  and  female  detectives,  collected. 

After  Lincoln  had  listened  to  Mr.  Seward's 
story,  he  asked  if  he  had  had  any  relation  to 
or  correspondence  with  Mr.  Pinkerton.  Being 
assured  to  the  contrary,  he  became  convinced  of 
the  conspiracy,  and  finally  decided  to  place  him- 
self in  the  hands  of  his  friends  and  comply  with 
any  arrangements  they  might 'make  which  would 
not  interfere  with  his  public  engagements  to  speak 
at  Independence  Hall  the  next  morning  (Wash- 
ington's Birthday),  and  at  Harrisburg  in  the  after- 


*  In  his  speech  in  Independence  Hall  the  following  passage 
has  a  peculiar  significance  : 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  101 

Arrangements  were  accordingly  at  once  made 
to  foil  the  conspirators,  absolute  secrecy  being 
essential,  as  the  city  government  of  Baltimore 
was  in  the  hands  of  Lincoln's  enemies;  and  while 
not  openly  daring  to  take  part  in  such  a  horrible 
crime,  the  police  would  probably  secretly  aid  in 
its  accomplishment. 

It  was  therefore  publicly  announced  that  Mr. 
Lincoln's  route  to  Washington  would  bring  him 
to  Baltimore  in  the  forenoon  of  February  23d, 
after  the  speech  at  Harrisburg,  while  it  was 
secretly  arranged  that  he  should  leave  the  latter 
place  early  in  the  evening,  passing  through  Balti- 
more after  midnight  and  arriving  at  the  Capital 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  23d. 

To  carry  out  this  plan  the  cooperation  of  the 
president  of  the  railway  company  was  enlisted. 
That  gentleman  ordered  a  special  car  with  an 
engine  to  be  in  waiting  at  Harrisburg  at  6  p.  m. 
for  Lincoln's  use.  He  also  held  the  regular  11 
p.  m.  train  at  Philadelphia  for  Washington,  order- 


"  It  was  not  the  mere  matter  of  separation  of  the  colonies 
from  the  mother  land,  but  that  sentiment  in  the  "Declaration 
of  Independence  which  gave  liberty  not  alone  to  the  people  of 
this  country,  but  hope  to  the  world  for  all  future  time.  It  was 
that  which  gave  promise  that  in  due  time  the  weights  would 
be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men,  and  that  all  should 
have  an  equal  chance.  .  .  .  But  if  this  country  can  not  be 
saved  without  giving  up  that  principle,  I  was  about  to  say  I 
would  rather  be  assassinated  on  this  spot  than  surrender  it." 


102  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ing  the  conductor  to  wait  for  an  "  important 
package" 

After  his  speech  before  the  Legislature  at  Har- 
risburg  and  while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  yet  at  dinner 
at  the  hotel,  a  carriage  was  driven  up  to  a  side 
entrance. 

Mr.  Judd  called  him  from  the  table,  and  Mr. 
Lincoln,  changing  his  clothes,  put  on  a  Scotch 
cap,  and,  with  a  shawl  upon  his  arm,  quietly 
and  without  informing  the  other  members  of  his 
party,  entered  the  waiting  vehicle  with  Colonel 
Lamon,  of  Springfield,  111.,  as  his  only  com- 
panion. 

The  "  special "  train  (unlighted,  except  the  en- 
gine headlight)  was  found  waiting  a  little  distance 
from  the  station,  and  they  succeeded  in  entering 
it  without  attracting  attention.  They  arrived  at 
Philadelphia  without  incident  a  little  after  eleven 
o'clock,  where  they  found  the  train  for  Washing- 
ton waiting. 

As  soon  as  Lincoln  and  his  friend  boarded  the 
train,  where  a  section  in  a  sleeping  car  was  ready 
for  them,  the  "  important  package  "  for  Washing- 
ton was  handed  to  the  conductor,  and  the  train 
started  on  its  journey,  the  conductor  himself  being 
unaware  of  the  fact  that  he  was  conveying  the 
"  man  of  destiny  "  to  the  Capital.  Immediately 
retiring  to  his  berth,  Lincoln  was  enjoying  a  good 
night's  rest  and  passing  through  the  enemy's  coun- 


SIXTH   PERIOD:    THE  STATESMAN  103 

try  at  the  very  hour  the  assassins  in  Baltimore 
were  completing  the  details  for  his  murder. 

Lincoln  and  his  companion  arrived  safely,  and 
without  disturbance,  in  Washington  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  where  Mr.  Seward  and  Elihu 
Washburne  met  them  at  the  station  with  feel- 
ings of  relief  and  gratitude,  and  conducted  them 
at  once  to  Willard's  Hotel,  where  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  to  remain  until  his  inauguration. 

His  arrival  at  the  Capital  surprised  and  dis- 
comfited the  conspirators,  but  pleased  and  grati- 
fied the  people  of  the  North,  who  did  not,  until 
years  after,  realize  the  imminent  danger  to  the 
life  of  their  chosen  President. 

Colonel  Lamon,  who  accompanied  Lincoln  and 
was  most  urgent  in  his  secretly  passing  through 
Baltimore,  afterward  discredited  the  entire  story, 
and,  in  his  work,  states  that  Lincoln  always  deeply 
regretted  yielding  to  his  overzealous  friends.  He 
ridicules  the  idea  and  blames  himself  for  the  part 
he  took  in  the  "  President's  flight." 


SEVENTH  PEKIOD  :  THE  PKESIDENT 

(1861-1865) 


CHAPTEK    XI 

Events  leading  up  to  the  great  civil  war — Treason  in  the 
Cabinet  of  President  Buchanan — The  Southern  Confed- 
eracy formed — War  begun. 

In  order  that  we  may  understand  the  great 
and  difficult  task  which  Lincoln  had  before  him, 
it  is  necessary  to  briefly  state  the  facts  which  led 
up  to  the  great  rebellion. 

After  Lincoln's  election  in  November,  many  of 
the  Southern  people  concluded  they  would  not  be 
ruled  by  a  "  black  abolitionist/'  as  they  called 
him.  In  December  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
withdrew  from  the  LTnion  (seceded). 

In  February,  1861,  six  seceding  Southern 
States  held  a  convention  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 
forty-two  persons  only  being  present.  These 
adopted  a  constitution,  and  elected  Jefferson 
Davis  and  Alexander  Stephens  president  and  vice- 
president,  thus  setting  up  a  government  in  op- 
position to  the  LTnited  States,  especially  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  slavery. 
104 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        105 


Meantime  the  President  in  office,  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan, was  surrounded  by  traitors,  who,  while 
taking  pay  for  serving  and  defending  the  Union, 
were  using  their  power  and  positions  to  destroy  it. 

Thus  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Floyd,  sent 
to  the  States  in  rebellion  all  the  guns  and  am- 
munition from  the  Northern  States  which  could 
be  transported. 

The  United  States  Treasury  of  New  Orleans 
was  taken  possession  of  by  the  State  of  Louisiana, 
and  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  robbed  from 
the  Government;  Major 
Anderson,  commanding  a 
small  body  of  United 
States  troops  at  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  was  shut  up  in 
Fort  Sumter,  and  a  vessel 
sent  secretly  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  President  Bu- 
chanan to  carry  them  pro- 
visions, etc.,  was  fired  on 
by  the  rebels,  shot  in  sev- 
eral places,  and,  being  unarmed,  was  compelled  to 
return  to  New  York. 

Traitors  were  everywhere,  and  open  threats 
were  made  against  the  life  of  Lincoln — that 
he  should  be  killed,  and  never  be  allowed  to  be- 
come President  of  the  United  States.    Thus  actual 


flZtfvt-$t 


LL6CU</Ct<_^- 


106  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

war  had  been  declared  by  these  six  Southern 
States  against  the  Government  some  months  be- 
fore Mr.  Lincoln  had  become  President,  and  the 
United  States  Government  had  been  robbed  of 
almost  every  means  of  defending  itself. 

Indeed,  in  the  Southern  States,  troops  were 
being  armed  with  the  guns  taken  from  the  Gov- 
ernment before  Lincoln  had  become  President. 
The  excitement  throughout  the  country  was  very 
great. 

People  did  not  at  first  understand  that  the 
seceding  of  these  States  meant  the  destruction  of 
the  Union  and  Republican  form  of  government; 
and  many  said:  "  Oh,  let  them  go!  If  they  don't 
want  to  stay  in  the  Union,  we  don't  want  to  make 
them  stay." 

The  Southern  people  also  did  not  realize  what 
the  few  (forty-two)  leaders  were  doing  for  them. 
They  did  not  think  the  Northern  people  would 
fight  for  the  Government;  and  if  Lincoln  insisted 
on  forcing  them  into  the  Union,  they  thought  that 
they,  with  their  troops,  would  capture  Washing- 
ton and  set  up  their  own  government. 

The  rebels,  or  Confederates,  were  waiting  to 
see  if  Lincoln  should  really  become  President, 
and  then  what  he  would  do.  The  Government 
offices  in  Washington  were  filled  with  men  in 
sympathy  with  the  South,  and  treason  was  every- 
where present. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       107 

Ex-Senator   Datces   describes   Lincoln's  Arrival   in 
Washington 

Ex-Senator  Dawes,  of  Massachusetts,  in  telling 
some  "  personal  recollections  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln "  before  the  Men's  League  at  Pittsfield,  Janu- 
ary 19,  1901,  said: 

"  I  remember  the  first  time  that  I  saw  Mr. 
Lincoln  on  that  morning  when  he  came  to  Wash- 
ington ten  days  before  he  was  to  take  the  oath 
of  office  as  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
came  at  a  time  and  in  a  manner  most  unfortunate 
for  himself  and  his  friends.  It  had  an  extraordi- 
nary effect  on  all  classes  of  people.  For  three 
months  previously  there  had  been  great  apprehen- 
sion in  Congress  over  the  safety  of  the  President- 
elect, as  it  was  believed  that  a  conspiracy  existed 
to  assassinate  him  and  thereby  prevent  his  inau- 
guration." 

Speaking  of  Lincoln's  personal  appearance,  he 
continued:  "I  never  saw  a  man  so  unkempt,  so 
ill-looking;  his  hair  was  disheveled,  his  clothes 
were  the  ones  that  he  had  worn  on  the  sleeper 
from  Springfield.  He  was  long  and  angular.  It 
seemed  as  though  his  body  was  made  up  of  com- 
ponent parts  of  different  bodies — as  though  his 
head  was  not  in  the  right  place.  Rough  and  un- 
couth, he  was  a  typical  backwoodsman.  But  there 
was  something  incomprehensible  in  his  face,  some- 
thing unfathomable. 


108  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  About  Washington  there  were  thousands  of 
the  poor  fellows  in  camps  who  had  enlisted  for  the 
service  of  their  country.  Every  Saturday  after- 
noon the  Congressmen  used  to  visit  those  who  had 
come  from  their  home  districts,  and  I  never  went 
among  those  soldiers  but  what  I  saw  Mr.  Lincoln 
there.  No  mother  ever  went  to  Washington  to 
intercede  for  her  son  that  did  not  go  away  feeling 
that  everything  possible  had  been  done  for  him. 
He  was  a  great  lover  of  justice;  he  never  allowed 
a  man  to  suffer  who  was  not  responsible  for  a 
crime. 

"  I  saw  him  when  he  came  to  Washington, 
and  I  was  there  when  he  fell.  Just  forty  days 
before  his  death  I  took  my  little  boy  to  see  him. 
The  President  took  him  up  in  his  arms  and  said: 
i  My  boy,  never  try  to  be  President  of  the  United 
States.     If  you  do,  you  never  will  be.' 

"  You  talk  about  your  self-made  men.  He 
wasn't  self-made.  It  was  in  him.  He  was  created 
to  serve  his  country  in  that  momentous  hour.  I 
have  never  doubted  that  it  was  a  miracle." 

Loyalty  of  General  Scott — The  Confederates  fire  on 
Fort  Sumter — Call  for  Seventy-five  Thousand  Vol- 
unteers— Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment  mobbed 
in  Baltimore — Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  Mas- 
sachusetts Regiments  defend  the  Capitol 

General  Winfield  Scott  had  remained  loyal, 
and  promised  Mr.  Lincoln  the  protection  of  all 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       109 

the  United  States  troops  which  he  had  at  his  com- 
mand, and  so,  in  spite  of  threats  of  his  life,  and 
treason  all  about  him,  he  was  able  to  take  the  oath 
of  his  office  in  peace  on  March  4,  1861. 

On  April  14th  Fort  Sumter,  under  Major 
Anderson's  command,  was  captured  by  the  Con- 
federates, the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  hauled  down, 
and,  at  this  insult  to  the  nation,  a  thrill  of  indig- 
nation passed  over  the  people  of  the  North,  arous- 
ing them  to  their  patriotic  duty.  A  great  cry 
arose  from  all  parties  to  defend  the  flag  and  the 
Union. 

President  Lincoln,  "the  next  day,  issued  a  proc- 
lamation calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  volun- 
teer troops  to  defend  Washington  and  the  Govern- 
ment property. 

A  small  regiment  from  Pennsylvania  reached 
Washington  a  day  later;  but  the  Sixth  Massa- 
chusetts Eegiment,  when  passing  through  Balti- 
more two  days  afterward,  was  mobbed,  and  a  large 
number  killed  and  wounded. 

The  sympathizers  with  the  South  in  Baltimore 
now  burned  the  railway  bridges  leading  to  Wash- 
ington, and  tore  up  the  tracks  so  as  to  prevent 
more  troops  from  reaching  the  Capitol.  They  also 
destroyed  the  telegraph,  so  that  for  a  week,  from 
April  19th,  the  Capitol  was  cut  off  from  communi- 
cation with  the  North.  But,  in  spite  of  these 
efforts  of  the  enemy,  the  Seventh  Regiment  from 


HO  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

New  York,  and  the  Eighth  Regiment  from  Bos- 
ton, Mass.,  reached  Washington  in  time  to  prevent 
its  capture;  and  the  loyal  people  there  received 
them  with  a  great  demonstration  of  enthusiasm. 

The  Uprising  of  the  North— Douglas's  Loyalty— His 
Famous  Speech 

The  people  of  the  North  were  now  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  the  tramp  of  armed  men  was  heard 
in  every  part  of  the  country  from  the  Atlantic 
coast  to  the  Mississippi  River. 

Regiment  after  regiment  marched  off  with 
flags  flying,  bands  playing,  and  sometimes  the  men 
singing  the  famous  war-song,  "  Glory,  Hallelujah." 
The  streets  of  every  Northern  city  were  filled  with 
soldiers,  who  came  together  with  one  common  im- 
pulse— to  save  the  Union.  Special  railway-trains 
of  passenger  and  freight-cars  were  rushed  to 
Washington  and  other  points  South.  Steamboats 
on  the  Mississippi  River  were  crowded  with  vol- 
unteers, who  were  carried  to  Cairo,  111.,  where 
they  gathered  to  defend  that  part  of  the  country. 
In  fact,  the  entire  North,  West,  and  East  was 
ablaze  with  patriotic  enthusiasm  and  preparations 
for  war;  the  shrill  notes  of  the  fife,  and  beat  of 
the  drum,  being  heard  from  early  morning  till  late 
at  night. 

This  spontaneous  uprising  of  the  masses  of  the 
people  in  defense  of  the  flag  and  the  Union,  was  a 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       m 

great  surprise  and  disappointment  to  the  South- 
ern conspirators  and  their  followers;  and  when 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  had  been  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  opposed  to  Lincoln,  came  out  in 
a  speech  supporting  him  and  his  Administration, 
thousands  of  wavering  ones  in  the  North  were  won 
over  to  the  Union  cause.  Douglas  showed  his 
loyalty  to  the  Union  in  a  most  noble  and  unself- 
ish manner.  He  was  present  at  Lincoln's  inaugu- 
ration and  showed  his  personal  friendship  by  hold- 
ing his  hat  for  him  when  he  made  his  speech.  He 
immediately  called  on  Lincoln  and  offered  to  do 
anything  he  could  to  assist.  Lincoln  told  him  he 
thought  the  best  thing  he  could  do  would  be  to  go 
to  Illinois  and  hold  his  friends  and  followers  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union. 

Douglas  accordingly  wTent  West,  and  on  April 
25th  made  a  great  speech  to  the  members  of  the 
Illinois  State  Legislature.  In  the  tumult  and 
great  excitement  of  the  time,  this  speech  was  like 
a  trumpet  call  to  arms. 

He  stood  in  the  same  place  where  Lincoln  had 
stood  in  opposing  him.  The  veins  of  his  neck  and 
forehead  were  swollen  with  passion,  and  the  per- 
spiration ran  down  his  face  in  streams.  His  voice 
wTas  frequently  broken  with  emotion,  and  the 
amazing  force  that  he  threw  into  the  words, 

"  When  hostile  armies  are  marching  under  new 
and  odious  banners  against  the  Government  of  our 


112  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

country,  the  shortest  way  to  peace  is  the  most  stu- 
pendous and  unanimous  preparation  for  war" 
seemed  to  shake  the  whole  building.  "  That  speech 
hushed  the  breath  of  treason  in  every  corner  of 
the  State/'  says  Mr.  Herndon,  Lincoln's  partner, 
who  was  present  at  the  time.  Douglas  died  shortly 
afterward  in  Chicago,  where  a  fine  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory. 

Lincoln   as   President — He   opposed    General   ScoWs 
Plan  of  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run — His  Sad  Face 

During  these  days  of  preparation  everything 
depended  upon  President  Lincoln.  He  was  at 
work  early  and  late,  and  bore  the  awful  burden 
of  the  great  duties  of  his  office  with  much  pa- 
tience. 

He  was  always  to  be  seen  by  the  people  at 
his  office,  and  denied  nobody  who  called.  The 
rich  and  poor  were  treated  alike  by  him;  and  his 
honesty,  no  less  than  his  simplicity  of  manner,  won 
the  sympathy  and  confidence  of  the  people.  In 
a  few  weeks  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men  was 
gathered,  and  under  General  McDowell's  com- 
mand, on  July  21st,  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun  in 
Virginia  was  fought,  the  Union  troops  being 
defeated,  and  in  panic  and  disorder  rushing  back 
to  Washington.  The  battle  had  been  planned  by 
General  Scott  contrary  to  Lincoln's  judgment, 
who  had  pointed  out  the  enemy's  strong  point,  and 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT       H3 


advised  a  different  plan  of  attack.  The  terrible 
slaughter  of  men,  and  horrible  suffering  of  the 
wounded,  deeply  affected  the  President,  and  from 
this  time  on,  during  the  awful  bloody  battles  of 
the  great  civil  war,  his 
sadness  and  mental  suf- 
fering showed  itself  in 
his  homely  but  express- 
ive face. 

The  artist  who 
painted  the  picture 
"  Signing  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation," 
said  of  the  President's 
face:  "  In  repose  it  was 
the  saddest  face  I  ever 

knew.    There  were  days  when  I  could  scarcely  look 
on  it  without  crying." 

The  day  after  the  terrible  defeat  at  Bull 
Run  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  calling 
for  five  hundred  thousand  troops. 

The  organization  and  drilling  of  this  vast  body 
of  men  took  many  weeks  and  months.  And  few 
battles  of  importance  occurred  until  the  next  year, 
1862,  though  General  IT.  S.  Grant,  with  a  small 
army,  in  September,  1861,  entered  the  State  of 
Kentucky  at  Paducah. 

As  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  give 
a  history  of  the  great  civil  war,  and  yet,  as  it  is  nec- 
8 


114  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

essary  to  know  something  of  that  dreadful  strug- 
gle in  order  to  understand  Lincoln's  great  services 
to  his  country  in  carrying  it  forward  to  a  successful 
issue  and  restoring  the  Union,  it  has  been  thought 
best  to  collect  the  principal  facts  and  place  thein 
before  the  reader  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence. 
(See  Appendix.) 


CHAPTEE  XII 

The  sleeping  sentinel  and  the  President. 

In  September,  1861,  during  the  early  part  of 
the  war,  William  Scott,  a  young  Green  Mountain 
(Vermont)  boy,  accustomed  to  going  to  bed  early 
all  his  life,  to  sleep  long  and  soundly,  and  entirely 
unused  to  military  duties,  was  a  member  of  Com- 
pany K  in  the  Third  Vermont  Eegiment.  The 
regiment  was  stationed  at  Chain  Bridge,  only  a 
few  miles  from  Washington;  a  most  important 
position,  upon  which  the  safety  of  the  Capital 
depended. 

One  day  Scott  volunteered  to  do  picket  duty 
for  a  sick  comrade,  and  thus  passed  the  whole 
night  marching  forward  and  backward  on  guard. 
The  next  day  he  was  himself  detailed  on  picket 
duty  and  undertook  the  performance  of  it. 

It  being  the  second  night  he  had  stood  guard, 
he  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  great  effort  to 
keep  aAvake;  and  from  hour  to  hour  he  struggled 
against  the  feeling  of  sleepiness  that  came  over 
him.     Finally,  his  tired  body  could  no  longer  keep 

on,  and  he  was  found  in  the  morning  sound  asleep 

115 


116  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

at  his  post.  For  this  offense  he  was  tried  by  the 
military  court,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be 
shot  within  twenty-four  hours. 

His  fellow-soldiers  all  liked  him  and  knew  that 
he  did  not  mean  to  neglect  his  duty.  They  felt 
that  it  was  entirely  owing  to  his  kindness,  in  tak- 
ing his  sick  comrade's  place  the  night  before,  that 
had  brought  upon  him  that  fatal  sleepiness  to 
which  he  had  finally  surrendered. 

So  his  comrades  called  a  meeting,  raised  a  sum 
of  money,  and  sent  a  committee  of  three  to  Wash- 
ington to  ask  the  assistance  and  advice  of  Mr.  L. 
E.  Chittenden,  United  States  Registrar  of  the 
Treasury,  he  being  a  Vermont  man,  and  knowing 
the  regiment  well. 

This  committee,  including  the  captain  of  the 
company  to  which  Scott  belonged,  marched  into 
Washington  early  in  the  morning  and  called  upon 
Mr.  Chittenden  in  the  Treasury  Building. 

The  captain,  plainly  showing  his  excitement, 
said :  "  Mr.  Chittenden,  I  am  the  man  who  is  to 
blame  for  this  whole  affair.  First  of  all,  Scott's 
mother  opposed  his  enlistment  because  of  his  in- 
experience and  youth,  and  I  promised  to  look 
after  him  as  though  he  were  my  own  boy.  In 
this  you  see  I  failed.  I  must  have  been  asleep 
or  stupid  myself  that  I  paid  no  attention  to  the 
boy's  statement  that  he  was  so  sleepy  already  from 
standing  guard  one  night  for  his  sick  comrade, 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT       117 

that  lie  had  fallen  asleep  during  the  day;  why, 
Scott  himself  said  he  was  afraid  he  could  not 
keep  awake  the  second  night  on  picket  duty," 
continued  the  distracted  captain. 

"  Instead  of  sending  another  or  going  myself 
in  Scott's  place,  as  I  ought  to  have  done,  I  sent 
that  poor  sleepy  boy  to  his  death.  I  am  the  guilty 
one,  Mr.  Chittenden.  If  any  one  should  be  shot, 
I  am  the  fellow."  * 

Mr.  Chittenden  said:  "What  a  pity!  Indeed, 
what  a  pity!  The  army  officers  complain  of  poor 
discipline  and  many  desertions,  and  say  they  must 
make  an  example  of  this  poor  boy." 

"  But  there  must  be  some  way  to  save  him," 
returned  the  captain  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  "  He 
is  as  good  a  boy  as  there  is  in  the  army,  and  he  ain't 
to  blame.     You  will  help  us,  won't  you?  " 

To  this  sentiment  all  assented,  and  said  they 
had  raised  among  them  a  sum  of  money,  intend- 
ing to  hire  a  lawyer  and  have  another  trial; 
but  Mr.  Chittenden,  at  once  seeing  that  nothing 
could  be  done  except  an  appeal  to  the  President, 
said: 

"  Put  up  your  money,  gentlemen.  I  can  not 
take  money  for  helping  a  Vermont  soldier.      I 


*  From  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Admin- 
istration, by  L.  E.  Chittenden.  Copyright,  1891,  by  Harper  & 
Bros. 


118  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

know  the  facts  in  this  case  of  which  you  know 
nothing.  I  fear  nothing  can  be  done;  certainly, 
lawyers  and  courts  can  do  nothing.'7 

Finally,  after  a  moment's  thought,  he  added: 
"  Come,  there  is  only  one  man  on  earth  who  can 
save  your  comrade.  Fortunately  he  is  the  best 
man  in  the  country.  We  will  go  to  President 
Lincoln." 

Quickly  leading  the  party  over  to  the  White 
House,  acting  entirely  upon  the  impulse  of  the 
moment,  Mr.  Chittenden  hurried  to  the  little  pri- 
vate office  where  the  President  was  busy  writing. 
Looking  up,  Lincoln  good-naturedly  exclaimed: 
"  What  is  this?  An  expedition  to  kidnap  some- 
body, or  to  get  another  brigadier-general  ap- 
pointed, or  for  your  furlough  to  go  home  and 
vote?  I  can  not  do  it,  gentlemen.  Brigadiers  are 
thicker  than  drum-majors,  and  I  couldn't  get  a 
furlough  for  myself  if  I  asked  it  of  the  War  De- 
partment." 

"  Mr.  President,  these  men  want  nothing  for 
themselves,"  spoke  up  Mr.  Chittenden.  "  They 
are  Green  Mountain  boys  of  the  Third  Vermont. 
They  will  fight  as  long  as  you  need  soldiers; 
they  don't  want  promotion  until  they  earn  it,  but 
they  do  want  something  that  you  alone  can  give 
them — the  life  of  a  comrade." 

"What  has  he  done?"  asked  the  President. 
"  You  Vermonters  are  not  a  bad  lot,  generally. 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT       119 

Has  lie  committed  murder,  or  mutiny,  or  what 
other  crime?  " 

"  Tell  him,"  Mr.  Chittenden  said  to  the  cap- 
tain. 

"I  can  not!  I  can  not!  I  should  stammer 
like  a  fool!  You  can  do  it  better,"  said  the 
captain. 

"  Captain,  Scott's  life  depends  upon  you," 
replied  Chittenden,  and  pushing  him  forward  to- 
ward the  President,  said:  "  You  must  tell  the 
President  the  story.  I  only  know  it  from  hear- 
say." 

Thus,  standing  before  the  President,  the  cap- 
tain, blushing  with  embarrassment,  commenced  to 
stammer  out  his  story. 

The  President  was  immediately  interested; 
pretty  soon  the  captain's  tongue  began  to  speak 
more  clearly,  and  as  he  gained  self-control  his 
words  flowed  freely;  he  then  gave  the  President 
a  very  graphic  account  of  the  sentinel's  misfor- 
tune, ending  by  saying: 

"  He  is  as  brave  a  boy  as  there  is  in  the  army, 
sir.  Scott  is  no  coward.  Our  mountains  breed  no 
cowards.  They  are  the  homes  of  thirty  thousand 
men  who  voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  They  will 
not  be  able  to  see  that  the  best  thing  to  be  done 
with  William  Scott  will  be  to  shoot  him  like  a 
traitor  and  bury  him  like  a  dog.  Oh!  Mr.  Lincoln, 
can  you?  " 


120  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

As  the  captain  proceeded  the  President's  face 
had  become  very  earnest,  and  an  intensely  sad 
look  pervaded  it;  as  he  concluded  there  was  some- 
thing like  tears  in  his  eyes,  but  as  the  captain  fin- 
ished he  exclaimed,  "  No,  I  can't!  " 

Then,  quick  as  a  flash,  his  countenance 
changed,  and  smiling,  he  broke  out  into  a  hearty 
laugh,  and  turning  to  Mr.  Chittenden,  said:  "  Do 
your  Green  Mountain  boys  fight  as  well  as  they 
talk? " 

Then,  his  manner  softening,  he  went  on:  "  But 
what  can  I  do?  What  do  you  expect  me  to  do? 
As  you  know,  I  have  not  much  influence  with  the 
Department." 

Mr.  Chittenden  answered :  "  I  have  thought 
the  matter  out.  I  feel  a  deep  interest  in  sav- 
ing the  boy's  life,  for  I  think  I  knew  his  father. 
Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  if  you  would  sign 
an  order  suspending  Scott's  execution  until  his 
friends  can  have  his  case  examined,  I  might 
carry  it  to  the  War  Department,  and  so  insure 
the  delivery  of  the  order  to  General  Smith 
to-day,  through  the  regular  channels  of  the  War 
Office." 

"  No,"  replied  Lincoln,  "  I  do  not  think  that 
course  would  be  safe.  You  do  not  know  these 
officers  of  the  regular  army.  They  are  a  law  unto 
themselves.  They  sincerely  think  that  it  is  good 
policy  occasionally  to  shoot  a  soldier." 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        121 

"  I  can  see  it  where  a  soldier  commits  a  crime 
or  deserts  the  army,  but  I  can  not  see  it  in  such  a 
case  as  Scott's." 

"  They  say  that  I  am  always  interfering  with 
the  discipline  of  the  army,  and  being  cruel  to  the 
soldiers." 

"  Well,  I  can't  help  it.  I  do  not  think  an 
honest,  brave  soldier,  conscious  of  no  crime  but 
sleeping  when  he  was  weary,  ought  to  be  hanged 
or  shot;  the  country  has  better  uses  for  him." 

"  Captain,"  continued  the  President,  "  your 
boy  shall  not  be  shot;  that  is,  not  to-morrow,  or 
until  I  know  more  about  his  case." 

Then  turning  to  Mr.  Chittenden  he  went  on: 
"  I  will  have  to  attend  to  this  matter  myself.  I 
have  for  some  time  intended  going  up  to  the  camp 
at  Chain  Bridge.  I  will  do  so  to-day,  and  I  shall 
then  know  that  there  will  be  no  mistake  in  sus- 
pending the  execution  of  this  poor  boy." 

"  But,  Mr.  President,  you  are  thus  undertak- 
ing a  burden  we  did  not  intend  to  impose  on  you," 
said  Mr.  Chittenden. 

"  Never  mind,"  Lincoln  answered,  "  Scott's 
life  is  as  valuable  to  him  as  that  of  any  person 
in  the  land.  You  remember  the  remark  of  the 
Scotchman  about  the  head  of  a  nobleman  who 
was  beheaded?  He  said:  ( It  was  a  small  matter 
of  a  head,  but  it  was  valuable  to  him,  poor  fellow, 
for  it  was  the  only  one  he  had.'  " 


122  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Seeing  that  remonstrance  was  in  vain,  Mr. 
Chittenden,  the  captain,  and  his  comrades,  after 
expressing  their  gratitude,  departed,  the  latter  re- 
turning to  the  camp. 

Lincoln's  Visit  to  the  Condemned  Soldier  in  his 
Guard-House 

The  President,  true  to  his  promise,  in  the 
afternoon  left  the  White  House,  drove  out  to 
the  Chain  Bridge  camp,  and  immediately  asked 
to  be  taken  to  the  guard-house  where  Scott  was 
confined.  The  boy  at  once  knew  the  President 
by  a  medal,  with  Lincoln's  homely  face  engraved 
upon  it,  which  he  had  long  worn  suspended 
around  his  neck,  and  he  felt  so  frightened  when 
Lincoln  came  to  him,  he  could  hardly  speak.  But 
the  President  spoke  so  kindly  and  gently  to  him 
that  he  soon  forgot  his  fear. 

The  President  asked  him  about  his  people  at 
home,  about  the  farm,  where  he  went  to  school, 
who  his  playmates  were,  and  then  he  asked  about 
his  mother  and  how  she  looked,  and  the  boy  gladly 
took  her  photograph  from  his  breast-pocket  and 
showed  it  to  him. 

The  President  said :  "  How  thankful  you  ought 
to  be  that  your  mother  still  lives,  and  if  I  were  in 
your  place  I  should  try  to  make  her  a  proud 
mother  and  never  cause  her  a  sorrow  or  a  tear." 
Many  more  kind  words  he  said,  but  as  yet  he  had 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       123 

not  mentioned  the  dreadful  next  morning  when 
the  boy  was  to  be  shot. 

Scott  thought  he  was  so  tender-hearted  he  did 
not  like  to  speak  of  it,  and  still  he  thought,  "  Why 
should  he  speak  about  not  causing  a  sorrow  or 
tear  to  my  mother  when  he  knows  I  am  to  die  in 
the  morning? "  With  this  thought  Scott  con- 
cluded to  "  brace  up  "  and  tell  the  President  he 
did  not  feel  guilty  of  any  crime,  and  he  would 
ask  him  as  a  special  favor  if  he  couldn't  fix  it  up 
so  that  the  firing  party  who  were  to  shoot  him 
might  be  drawn  from  another  regiment,  because 
it  was  so  hard  to  die  from  the  hands  of  his  own 
comrades. 

His  resolution  to  "  speak  up,"  however,  was 
cut  short  by  the  President,  who  now  stood  up  and 
said: 

"  My  boy,  stand  up  and  look  me  in  the  face." 
As  Scott  stood  up,  the  President  continued :  "  My 
boy,  you  are  not  going  to  be  shot  to-morrow.  I 
believe  you  when  you  tell  me  you  could  not  keep 
awake.  I  am  going  to  trust  you  and  send  you 
back  to  your  regiment." 

At  this  Scott's  eyes  filled  with  tears,  his  lips 
quivered,  and  his  throat  was  filled  with  a  great 
lump.  He  could  hardly  control  his  emotion  or 
find  power  to  speak  his  surprise  and  gratitude. 

He  had  expected  to  die  the  next  morning,  and 
had  become  used  to  thinking  of  it  that  way.     To 


124  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

have  it  all  changed  in  a  minute !  It  was  too  much. 
The  President  went  on: 

"  But  I  have  been  put  to  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
on  your  account.  I  have  come  up  here  from 
Washington,  where  I  have  many  duties  to  attend 
to,  and  what  I  want  to  know  is,  how  are  you  going 
to  pay  my  bill?  " 

The  soldier  finally  choked  down  his  sobs  and 
said: 

"  I  am  grateful,  Mr.  Lincoln.  I  hope  I  am  as 
grateful  as  ever  a  man  can  be  to  you  for  saving 
my  life.  But  it  is  so  sudden  and  unexpected  like, 
I  didn't  lay  out  for  it  at  all.  But  there  must  be 
some  way  to  pay  you  and  I  will  find  it  after  a 
little.'-' 

A  happy  thought  seemed  to  occur  to  him,  and 
he  continued: 

"  There  is  the  bounty  in  the  savings-bank,  and 
I  guess  we  could  borrow  some  money  on  the  farm 
by  mortgaging  it;  then  there  will  be  my  pay  as  a 
soldier,  and  I  guess  if  you  will  wait  till  pay-day 
the  boys  in  the  regiment  will  help,  and  so  we  can 
make  it  up,  if  it  isn't  more  than  five  or  six  hun- 
dred dollars." 

Lincoln,  sadly  smiling,  replied :  "  But  it's  a 
great  deal  more  than  that." 

"  Then  I  don't  just  see  how,  but  I'm  sure 
I  can  find  some  way  to  pay  it  if  I  live,"  said 
Scott. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       125 

The  Sentinel's  Solemn  Oath 

The  President,  placing  his  hands  on  the  boy's 
shoulders  and  looking  him  in  the  eye,  as  though 
he  was  sorry,  said  very  earnestly:  "My  boy,  my 
bill  is  a  large  one.  Your  friends  can  not  pay  it, 
nor  your  bounty,  nor  the  farm,  nor  all  your  com- 
rades! There  is  only  one  man  in  the  world  who 
can  pay  your  bill,  and  his  name  is  William  Scott. - 

"  If  from  this  day  William  Scott  does  his  duty, 
so  that  if  I  were  there  when  he  came  to  die,  he 
could  look  me  in  the  face,  as  he  does  now,  and  say, 
'  I  have  kept  my  promise  and  have  done  my  duty 
as  a  soldier,'  then  my  debt  will  be  paid.  Will  you 
make  me  that  promise  and  try  to  keep  it?  " 

As  the  President  spoke  a  great  sense  of  the 
sacredness  of  his  duty  to  his  country  came  over 
the  boy.     . 

He  was  thrilled  as  never  before  with  a  patri- 
otic desire  to  give  his  life  in  the  cause  of  freedom 
and  for  the  love  of  this  great  and  good  man;  and, 
as  he  answered,  standing  erect  and  raising  his  right 
hand  toward  heaven,  something  like  a  glorious 
light  seemed  for  a  moment  to  shine  upon  him  as 
he  solemnly  said:  "  I  make  the  promise,  and  with 
God's  help  will  keep  it." 

Then  the  boy  broke  down,  and,  grasping  Lin- 
coln's hand,  sobbed  convulsively.  When  he  recov- 
ered, the  President  was  gone,   and  in  his  hands 


126  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

the  soldier  held  an  order  for  his  immediate  re- 
lease and  restoration  to  his  regiment  signed  by 
the  President. 

Scott  becomes  a  Hero  in  Battle,  and  dies  a  Glorious 
Death 

How  truly  and  justly  the  President  judged  the 
boy  was  soon  proven,  for  he  became  the  best  sol- 
dier in  the  regiment,  and  was  always  trying  to  help 
his  comrades.  He  was  offered  a  promotion,  but  re- 
fused; and  when,  some  months  later  (in  March, 
1862),  at  a  great  battle  on  Warwick  River,  at 
Lee's  Mills,  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  assault 
the  enemy,  he  proved  himself  a  hero  worthy  of 
the  proud  name,  "  An  American  Soldier.'7 

It  was  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when 
the  charge  was  sounded;  unclasping  their  belts  and 
holding  their  guns  and  cartridge-boxes  above  their 
heads,  the  Yermonters  dashed  into  and  across  the 
stream  in  front  of  the  enemy's  rifle-pits  and  cap- 
tured them. 

Scott  was  one  of  the  first  to  reach  the  bank, 
the  first  in  the  rifle-pits  and  the  last  to  retreat,  for 
the  enemy  was  found  to  be  too  strong,  and  the 
Yermonters,  being  unsupported  by  other  troops, 
were  ordered  to  retreat,  which  they  did  under  a 
terrible  fire,  leaving  half  their  number  on  the  field. 

In  the  retreat  Scott  carried  a  wounded  officer 
across  the  river  and  saved  his  life.     He  then  re- 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT       127 

turned,  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  alone,  and  again 
brought  over  a  wounded  comrade.  Once  more 
he  returned,  and  the  enemy  this  time  made  him  a 
target,  yet  he  succeeded  in  rescuing  the  last  man 
who  was  left  on  the  opposite  bank,  but  fell  as  he 
reached  the  shore  completely  riddled  with  bullets. 

He  was  carried  off  the  field  by  his  comrades; 
but  was  so  strong  and  powerful  that  he  lived  until 
the  next  morning.  Then  his  comrades  gathered 
about  his  cot,  as  he  was  about  to  die,  and  he  sent 
this  last  message  to  the  President,  who  had  saved 
his  life: 

"  Tell  the  President  that  I  have  never  for- 
gotten the  kind  words  he  said  to  me  at  Chain 
Bridge;  that  I  have  tried  to  be  a  good  soldier  and 
true  to  the  flag;  that  now,  when  I  know  I'm 
dying,  I  think  of  his  kind  face,  and  thank  him 
again  because  he  gave  me  a  chance  to  fall  like  a 
soldier  in  battle,  and  not  like  a  coward  by  the 
hands  of  my  comrades." 

His  face  looked  happy  and  contented.  JSTot  a 
groan  escaped  his  lips. 

"  Good-by,  boys,"  he  said  almost  cheerily, 
and  closing  his  eyes,  his  hands  folded  across  his 
breast,  he  was  dead. 

Scott  was  buried  at  the  foot  of  a  noble  oak- 
tree,  his  initial  letters  W.  S.  were  cut  into  it,  and 
his  company  fired  a  volley  over  his  grave. 


128  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

It  was  some  days  before  Scott's  message  was 
repeated  to  the  President  by  Mr.  Chittenden, 
when  Lincoln  expressed  his  sorrow  at  the  boy's 
death,  and  added :  "  He  was  a  good  boy — too  good 
a  boy  to  be  shot  for  obeying  nature.  I  am  glad 
I  interfered." 

Mr.  Chittenden  then  said:  "  Mr.  Lincoln,  I 
wish  this  matter  could  be  written  into  history." 

"Tut!  tut!"  Lincoln  broke  in.  "None  of 
that.  You  remember  what  Jeannie  Dean  said  to 
the  Queen  when  begging  for  the  life  of  her 
sister  ?  " 

"  I  remember  the  incident,  but  not  the  lan- 
guage," replied  Mr.  Chittenden. 

"  I  remember  both.  This  is  the  paragraph  in 
point :  '  It  is  not  when  we  sleep  soft  and  wake  mer- 
rily that  we  think  of  other  people's  sufferings,  but 
when  the  hour  of  trouble  comes,  and  when  the 
hour  of  death  comes — that  comes  to  high  and  low 
— oh,  then,  it  isn't  what  we  have  done  for  our- 
selves, but  what  we  have  done  for  others  that  we 
think  on  most  pleasantly !  '  " 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

"  A  little  more  light  and  a  little  less  noise  " — Lincoln's  judg- 
ment produces  the  Monitor  and  revolutionizes  the  naval 
warfare  of  the  world — Badly  scared  millionaires  of  New 
York  rebuffed  by  Lincoln — The  girl  with  a  singing  in 
her  head — A  mysterious  Englishman  advances  five  million 
dollars  to  our  Government. 

During  these  eventful  years,  the  dreadful 
losses  of  life  in  battle,  the  terrible  defeats  at  Bull 
Run,  Manassas,  Antietam,  etc,,  produced  a  feeling 
of  intense  anxiety  throughout  the  North  which 
at  times  vented  itself  in  faultfindings  frequently 
most  unjust.  Editors  of  many  papers  did  not 
scruple  to  blame  the  President  for  everything. 
He  was  thus  often  made  to  carry  the  burdens  of 
misfortunes  resulting  from  bad  generalship  at  the 
front,  for  which  he  was,  of  course,  in  no  way  re- 
sponsible. He  was  also  criticised  most  harshly  by 
Horace  Greeley,  who  had  always  opposed  him, 
and  other  radical  abolitionists,  because  he  did  not 
at  once  issue  a  proclamation  of  emancipation. 
The  President,  bowed  with  the  awful  responsibili- 
ties of  the  great  conflict,  and  suffering,  as  he  did, 
untold  agony  on  account  of  the  misery  and  hard- 
9  129 


130  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ships  it  produced,  felt  keenly  these  slurs  upon  his 
Administration,  but  struggled  bravely  on  in  his 
mighty  task,  seldom  murmuring  any  complaint. 

On  one  occasion,  however,  after  the  New  York 
Tribune  had  been  particularly  offensive,  a  noted 
newspaper  correspondent  from  New  York  called 
upon  Lincoln  to  urge  some  special  plan  of  cam- 
paign. The  President,  weary  and  worn  with  many 
midnight  vigils,  after  patiently  listening  to  his 
caller,  said: 

"  Your  New  York  papers  remind  me  of  a  little 
story."  And  then,  throwing  one  of  his  long  legs 
over  the  other,  while  a  humorous  smile  played 
about  his  mouth,  he  continued:  "  Some  years  ago 
there  Avas  a  gentleman  traveling  through  Kansas 
on  horseback,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days. 
There  were  few  settlements  and  no  roads,  and  he 
finally  lost  his  way.  To  make  matters  worse,  as 
night  came  on,  a  terrific  thunder-storm  suddenly 
arose,  and  peal  on  peal  of  thunder,  following 
flashes  of  lightning,  shook  the  earth  or  momenta- 
rily illuminated  the  scene.  The  terrified  traveler 
then  got  off  and  led  his  horse,  seeking  to  guide 
himself  as  best  he  might  by  the  flickering  light  of 
the  quick  flashes  of  lightning.  All  of  a  sudden  a 
tremendous  crash  of  thunder  brought  the  man  to 
his  knees  in  terror,  and  he  cried  out: 

"  '  O  Lord!  If  it's  all  the  same  to  you,  give 
us  a  little  more  light  and  a  little  less  noise.' " 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        131 

The  gentleman  appreciated  the  appropriate- 
ness of  this  application  to  the  thunders  of  the 
JNew  York  press  against  Lincoln,  and,  after  laugh- 
ing heartily,  assured  him  he  would  use  his  influ- 
ence to  "  get  more  light  and  less  noise  "  from  that 
source. 

Lincoln's  Experience  as  a  Boatman  gives  us  the 
Monitor  against  the  Unanimous  Opposition  of 
the  Naval  Board  of  Officers 

In  the  early  part  of  the  war  (1862),  the  Con- 
federates thought  they  could  destroy  the  warships 
of  the  Government  by  the  construction  of  a  large 
floating  battery,  covered  with  steel  armor,  which 
could  resist  the  most  powerful  cannon-ball  then 
known. 

The  Government  soon  heard  of  the  building  at 
Norfolk,  Va.,  of  this  monster  ram  called  the  Mer- 
rimac,  and,  as  the  news  spread  throughout  the 
country,  a  feeling  of  terror  pervaded  the  nation; 
for,  besides  ramming  and  sinking  our  war-ships,  it 
could  also  destroy  all  the  commerce  of  the  seas 
and  attack  and  bombard  Washington,  New  York, 
and  all  the  other  seacoast  towns. 

To  meet  this  iron-clad  boat  Congress  appro- 
priated a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  building  of 
a  similar  vessel  called  the  Galena;  but  this  proved 
a  failure,  and  the  money  was  wasted. 

In  this  dilemma,  Captain  Ericsson  came  for- 


132  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ward  with  his  plan  for  the  construction  of  an 
armored  vessel  with  its  battery  placed  in  a  re- 
volving turret  on  the  deck,  the  deck  being  almost 
level  with  the  water. 

This  plan  was  placed  before  the  Board  of 
Naval  Construction  and  was  unanimously  rejected. 
All  the  officers  of  the  navy  were  opposed  to  the 
scheme,  claiming  that  the  heavy  weight  of  the 
armor  would  sink  the  ship.  Finally,  in  despair, 
Ericsson  presented  his  plan  to  the  President,  who 
at  once  saw  its  practicability. 

To  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who 
said  that  the  armor  would  sink  the  boat,  Lincoln 
answered :  "  That  is  a  matter  in  arithmetic,  isn't 
it?  We  used  to  figure,  on  the  Mississippi  River, 
how  much  our  flatboats  and  steamboats  could 
carry  to  a  pound." 

Several  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Construction 
were  then  called  to  reconsider  the  matter,  and 
finally  the  President's  good  sense  and  persistence 
prevailed,  the  board  consenting  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Monitor. 

The  building  of  this  novel  floating  battery  was 
pushed  with  great  vigor,  Lincoln  hoping  to  have 
it  finished  in  time  to  meet  the  much-dreaded  Mer- 
rimac. 

On  January  30,  1862,  the  Monitor  was 
launched,  and,  to  the  great  surprise  and  disap- 
pointment of  the  naval  officers,  and  others  who 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       133 


had  ridiculed  the  undertaking,  when  it  slid  into 
the  water  the  vessel  did  not  sink,  but  stood  several 
inches  more  above  the  surface  than  Captain  Erics- 
son had  promised.  Meanwhile  the  Confederate 
ram  Merrimac  was  be- 
ing rapidly  finished,  and 
was  expected  to  come 
out  from  Norfolk  on 
March  9  th.  On  Friday, 
the  7th  of  March,  the 
President,  in  an  inter- 
view with  some  naval 
officers,  said:  "  You  do 
not  seem  to  take  our 
little  Monitor  into  ac- 
count. I  believe  in  the 
Monitor  and  her  com- 
mander.     They    should 

be  in  Hampton  Roads    [Norfolk]   now;   she  left 
New  York  two  days  ago." 

The  officers  argued  against  his  faith,  saying, 
"  The  Monitor  is  an  experiment  untried.  She  may 
be  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  We  know  noth- 
ing of  her." 

"No!  no!"  said  Lincoln.  "I  respect  your 
opinion,  as  you  know,  but  this  time  you  are  all 
wrong.  The  Monitor  was  one  of  my  inspirations. 
I  believed  in  her  when  her  designs  were  first  shown 
me.     I  caught  some  of  the  inventor's  enthusiasm, 


SL 


134  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

which  has  been  growing  upon  me  ever  since.  I 
think  she  may  be  the  veritable  sling  with  a  stone 
that  shall  smite  the  Philistine  Merrimac  in  the 
forehead." 

The  officers  then  left  for  the  scene  of  the 
battle  (which  was  expected  in  Hampton  Roads, 
every  hour)  more  hopeful,  but  not  convinced. 

The  very  next  day,  Saturday,  the  8th  of 
March,  1862,  the  dreaded  Merrimac  appeared,  and 
in  a  few  moments  had  rammed  into  and  sunk  the 
great  sloop  of  war  Cumberland,  nearly  all  her 
crew  perishing. 

The  frigate  Congress  had  been  riddled,  torn 
in  pieces,  and  left  a  grounded  wreck,  her  crew 
also  perishing. 

The  other  great  ship  Minnesota  had  run 
aground;  and  the  iron  monster,  apparently  satis- 
fied with  her  day's  work  of  destruction,  returned 
to  Norfolk  with  the  evident  intention  of  finish- 
ing the  task  next  morning. 

The  news  of  this  terrible  disaster  to  the  United 
States  navy,  spread  a  feeling  of  gloom  and  fear 
over  the  entire  country.  Every  one  was  asking, 
"  Where  is  the  Monitor?" 

In  the  midst  of  this  feeling  of  fear,  Lincoln 
stood  firm  as  a  rock  in  his  faith,  sending  out  words 
of  hope  and  encouragement,  while  his  enemies 
were  already  ridiculing  and  laughing  at  Lincoln's 
little  "  cheese-box,"  as  the  Monitor  was  called. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        135 

Throughout  all  the  Northern  cities  that  Sun- 
day morning  prayers  were  offered  in  all  the  loyal 
churches  for  the  success  of  the  President's  plans. 

Meanwhile  the  little  Monitor,  having  been  buf- 
feted by  the  waves  of  the  ocean  and  driven  by  a 
storm  into  shelter,  where  she  lay  several  hours, 
finally  arrived  in  Hampton  Roads,  at  two  o'clock 
Sunday  morning,  and  anchored  by  the  side  of  the 
Minnesota.  Here  her  officers  learned  of  the  ter- 
rible destruction  of  the  preceding  day,  and  pre- 
pared to  meet  the  enemy  at  daybreak. 

Battle  of  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimac 

The  morning  opened  clear  and  warm,  and 
many  people  gathered  on  the  banks  to  witness  the 
battle. 

The  Confederates,  jubilant  over  their  victory 
of  the  day  before,  came  to  see  the  destruction  of 
the  United  States  battle-ship  Minnesota,  and  the 
triumphant  departure  of  their  iron-clad  monster 
for  the  Northern  cities,  to  destroy,  levy  tribute, 
and  humiliate  the  despised  "  Yankees." 

Among  those  on  the  opposite  bank  were  many 
officers  and  officials  of  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington, who  had  hurried  clown  to  see  if  "  Lincoln's 
cheese-box,"  as  many  had  sneeringly  called  the 
Monitor,  would  "  really  accomplish  anything." 

They  were  possessed  of  a  great  fear  and  anx- 
iety, owing  to  the  terrible  destruction  the  Merri- 


136  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

mac  had  wrought  the  day  before,  and  this  feeling 
of  dread  was  emphasized  by  the  appearance  near 
by  of  the  wrecks  of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Con- 
gress. 

It  was  shortly  after  sunrise  when  the  anxious 
watchers  on  board  the  Minnesota  discovered  thick 
black  smoke  arising  in  the  direction  of  Norfolk, 
and  soon  the  Merrimac  hove  in  sight. 

As  she  rapidly  approached,  intending  to  ram 
and  sink  the  Minnesota,  her  officer  discovered  a 
little  round  thing,  which  in  the  distance  looked  as 
much  like  a  big  stove-pipe  hat  as  anything,  float- 
ing on  the  water  near  her  intended  victim.  Pres- 
ently it  was  seen  to  move,  and  was  coming  toward 
them,  and  they  soon  discovered  that  it  was  the 
round  turret  of  the  Monitor,  for  her  deck  was  so 
low  (being  but  a  few  inches  above  the  water)  it 
could  scarcely  be  seen. 

The  little  "  cheese-box  on  a  raft  "  showed  no 
fear  of  the  approaching  iron  ram.  As  soon  as  the 
Merrimac  came  in  sight,  Lieutenant  Worden,  com- 
mander of  the  Monitor,  ordered  "full  steam 
ahead/7  and  bravely  advanced  to  meet  her. 

It  was  a  moment  of  supreme  and  awful  sus- 
pense! 

It  seemed  impossible  that  the  little  thing  with 
but  two  guns  in  its  revolving  turret  could  whip 
that  formidable  floating  fortress  of  steel,  with  its 
ten  guns,  which  was  bearing  down  upon  her. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        137 

As  they  neared  each  other,  the  Washington  offi- 
cials on  the  bank  held  their  breath  in  fear  and 
dread. 

But  in  spite  of  this  feeling,  the  brave  and  un- 
daunted advance  of  the  Monitor,  carrying  the  be- 
loved emblem  of  Liberty,  aroused  a  certain  feeling 
of  pride. 

It  seemed  so  audacious !  It  was  a  pygmy  chal- 
lenging a  giant!  It  was  David  and  Goliath  over 
again. 

The  suspense  was,  however,  soon  broken  by  a 
shot  from  the  Merrimac,  which  struck  close  to  but 
did  not  hit  the  Monitor.  Then,  veering  around, 
the  Merrimac  delivered  her  broadside  of  four  guns. 
Some  of  these  hit  the  deck  of  the  Monitor,  but 
glanced  off,  doing  no  harm. 

The  Union  officers  began  to  breathe  again, 
but,  "  Why  didn't  the  Monitor  reply  to  their 
fire?" 

Ah!  Lieutenant  Worden  was  waiting  for 
closer  contact! 

Now  the  important  moment  had  arrived,  and 
from  the  turret  of  the  Monitor  there  came  the 
sharp  retort  of  solid  shot,  followed  quickly  by  the 
second  gun,  which  revolved  into  place  with  perfect 
ease. 

The  tremendous  crash  of  these  solid  shot  on 
the  steel  armor  of  the  ram  could  be  heard  over 
the  thunders  of  the  guns  themselves,  and  the  feel- 


138  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ing  of  dread  in  the  hearts  of  the  Union  men 
changed  to  wonder  and  hope. 

Again  the  Merrimac  delivered  her  broadside, 
and  this  time  a  shot  struck  the  Monitor's  turret 
fairly,  but  it  glanced  off,  doing  no  apparent  harm. 

This  began  to  look  encouraging,  indeed,  and 
some  of  the  Union  officers  who  had  scoffed  at  Lin- 
coln's "  cheese-box  "  experienced  a  sudden  change 
of  heart,  one  of  them  exclaiming  to  his  friend  in 
an  absent-minded  way,  "  What  a  wonderful  man 
6  Old  Abe  '  is,  anyway!  " 

The  Merrimac,  after  trying  vainly  to  beat  off 
her  persistent  little  foe  with  shot  and  shell,  finally 
determined  to  ram  her. 

Awaiting  a  favorable  moment,  her  commander, 
Colonel  Wood,  gave  the  order,  and  with  "  full 
steam  ahead "  she  rushed  upon  her  diminutive 
opponent.  This  sudden  movement  produced  a  feel- 
ing of  consternation  in  the  minds  of  those  watch- 
ing the  fight  on  the  Union  side. 

It  seemed  that  the  great  iron-clad  vessel  would 
crush  her  antagonist  by  mere  force  of  weight 
alone ;  and,  as  she  swiftly  rode  forward,  the  Moni- 
tor, lying  almost  broadside  to  her,  seemed  a  help- 
less thing,  doomed  to  certain  annihilation. 

Again  the  watchers  on  shore  caught  their 
breath,  and  experienced  a  feeling  of  pity  that  such 
a  brave  and  well-fought  little  craft  should  be  de- 
stroyed by  brute  force  alone.     But  lo!  when  the 


H  i  i    -.   "   -     --   -  W 


The  Monitor  attackins:  the  Merrimac. 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        139 

ram  struck  the  Monitor  it  did  not  sink  or  split, 
but  was  merely  shoved  along,  until  it  swung  around 
close  to  the  side  of  her  enemy. 

In  this  favorable  position  the  Monitor  deliv- 
ered her  fire  rapidly  and  with  telling  effect  upon 
the  Merrimac. 

One  shot,  indeed,  entered  a  port-hole  of  the 
iron  monster,  causing  considerable  destruction  and 
killing  and  wounding  several. 

Those  on  land  could  not  repress  a  shout  of 
wonder  and  joy  at  this  unexpected  exhibition  of 
endurance  of  their  little  defender,  for,  practically, 
that  little  insignificant,  round  turret  and  two  guns 
was  all  that  stood  between  them  and  destruction  by 
this  dreaded  "  ram." 

It  was  the  knight-errant  of  invention  and  sci- 
ence fighting  for  Columbia  and  her  cause. 

Soon  after  this  the  Merrimac  gave  up  the  con- 
test and  steamed  back  to  Norfolk  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible, having  been  seriously  injured  by  the  Moni- 
tor's fire  and  fairly  beaten. 

The  latter  remained,  the  unpretentious  victor 
of  one  of  the  most  momentous  events  in  the  history 
of  naval  warfare. 

The  officials  and  people  of  the  Union  side  sent 
up  a  great  shout  when  they  saw  the  boasted  "  ram," 
the  iron  "  terror  "  of  the  Confederacy,  whipped, 
and  cheers  upon  cheers  were  heard  from  the  offi- 
cers and  men  on  the  Minnesota  who  had  been  saved 


140  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

from  destruction  by  Lincoln's  "  cheese-box."  The 
Washington  officials  rushed  to  the  telegraph  office 
at  Newport  News,  near  by,  and  sent  the  glorious 
news  to  the  President,  who  immediately  had  it  sent 
over  the  wires  throughout  the  nation,  and  people, 
who  had  gone  to  church  in  the  morning  filled  with 
gloom  and  apprehension,  returning  from  the  serv- 
ice were  greeted  by  the  newsboys  shouting, 
"  Great  victory  of  the  Monitor  over  the  Merri- 
mac!" 

The  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  after- 
ward, speaking  of  the  fight  which  he  witnessed, 
said:  "  The  splendid  handling  of  the  Monitor 
throughout  the  battle  was  marvelous.  The  first 
bold  advance  of  the  diminutive  vessel  against  a 
giant  like  the  Merrimac  was  grand  and  awe-in- 
spiring. 

"  One  would  have  thought  the  Monitor  a  thing 
of  life;  no  man  was  visible.  You  saw  her  mov- 
ing around  in  a  circle  delivering  her  fire,  always 
at  the  point  of  contact,  and  heard  the  crash  of 
her  shot  against  her  armored  foe  above  the 
thunder  of  her  guns.  It  was  indescribably  grand. 
Now,"  continued  the  Secretary,  "  let  me  make  a 
confession,  and  perform  an  act  of  simple  justice. 
I  never  fully  believed  in  armored  vessels  until  I 
saw  this  battle.  I  know  all  the  facts  combined 
to  give  us  the  Monitor. 

"  I  withhold  no  credit  from  Captain  Ericsson, 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        141 

her  inventor,  but  I  know  that  the  country  is  prin- 
cipally indebted  for  the  construction  of  this  vessel 
to  President  Lincoln  and  for  the  success  of  her 
trial  to  Captain  Worden,  her  commander." 

The  victory  was  received  with  loud  huzzas  and 
great  rejoicing  throughout  the  nation. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  common  sense 
and  wide  experience  of  the  President  on  the  West- 
ern rivers  during  his  early  life  succeeded  in  accom- 
plishing for  this  country  what  the  learned  and  sci- 
entific prejudices  of  the  naval  officers  would  have 
prevented.  * 

The  Badly  Scared  Millionaires  of  New   York   City 
rebuffed  by  Lincoln 

The  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax  (who  was  Vice- 
President  under  General  Grant  during  his  second 
term)  related  the  following  incident,  pointedly 
showing  that  the  President  keenly  felt  the  selfish- 
ness of  that  class  of  money  speculators  who  were 
fattening  on  the  misfortunes  of  the  country,  and 
enriching  themselves  by  discrediting  the  Govern- 
ment's legal  tenders,  while  purchasing  the  bonds 

*  One  of  the  last  shots  of  the  Merrimac  struck  the  pilot- 
house of  the  Monitor,  seriously  injuring  Captain  Worden's 
eyesight.  For  a  few  minutes  the  boat  drifted  without  direc- 
tion. When  Ensign  S.  D.  Greene  took  his  place  and  turned  to 
resume  the  fight,  the  Merrimac  was  already  on  her  way  back 
to  Norfolk. 


142  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

bearing  heavy  interest,  also  at  a  discount,  and  pay- 
ing for  them  in  the  very  currency  they  had  pur- 
posely cheapened.  It  was  in  March,  1862,  during 
the  exciting  days  related  in  the  previous  story  of 
the  Monitor,  at  the  time  when  "  the  dreaded  Merri- 
mac  "  had  escaped  from  Hampton  Roads  and  "was 
supposed  to  be  making  its  way  to  Xew  York  city 
to  destroy  it  as  far  as  possible,  that  a  deputation 
of  New  York's  moneyed  men  waited  upon  the 
President. 

The  newspapers  had  already  announced  their 
intended  visit,  and  stated  that  they  represented 
one  hundred  million  dollars. 

The  President  accorded  them  an  interview 
without  delay,  the  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax  being 
present  at  the  time. 

The  spokesman  of  the  party  stated  their  fears 
for  the  safety  of  their  city,  and  pictured  the  vast 
wealth  that  might  be  destroyed,  the  possible  loss 
of  human  life,  and  gave  every  evidence  that  they 
were  badly  frightened  at  the  possibility  of  the 
dreaded  monster  (the  Merrimac)  visiting  their 
homes.  He  then  introduced  one  after  another  of 
the  gentlemen,  stating  that  this  one  was  worth  ten 
millions,  that  one  seven  millions,  and  another  rep- 
resented fifty  millions,  etc.  He  further  stated  that 
they  had  paid  their  taxes  and  had  bought  the  Gov- 
ernment bonds,  and  felt  that  their  great  interests 
should  be  protected. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        1±3 

At  the  conclusion  Lincoln  said: 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  the  Government  has  no 
vessel  as  yet,  that  I  know  of,  which  can  sink  the 
Merrimac.  The  Government  is  pretty  poor;  its 
credit  is  not  very  good;  its  legal  tenders  are  worth 
only4 forty  cents  on  the  dollar  in  Wall  Street,  and 
we  hteve  to  pay  a  high  rate  of  interest  on  our  loans. 
Now,  if  I  were  in  your  place,  and  had  as  much 
money  as  you  say  you  represent,  and  was  as  badly 
frightened  as  you  appear  to  be,  I'd  go  right  back 
to  New  York  and  build  some  war-vessels  and  pre- 
sent them  to  the  Government."  * 

The  Girl  from  New  Salem  with  a  Singing  in  her 
Head 

Among  the  numerous  delegations  which 
thronged  Washington  during  the  early  part  of 
the  war  was  one  from  New  York  urging  the  send- 
ing of  a  fleet  of  war-vessels  and  troops  to  South- 
ern cities — Charleston,  Savannah,  and  Mobile — 
with  the  object  of  drawing  off  the  rebel  army  from 
the  Capitol. 

Lincoln  listened  with  great  patience  and  re- 
spect, saying,  when  they  had  concluded:  "  This 
project  reminds  me  f  of  the  case  of  a  girl  in  New 

*  Lincoln  once  said  to  David  R.  Locke  (Petroleum  V. 
Nasby),  "Wealth  is  a  superfluity  of  what  we  don't  need." 

f  Selected  from  Carpenter's  Recollections,  and  published  by 
permission  of  The  Independent. 


144  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Salem,  111.,  who  was  greatly  troubled  with  a  sing- 
ing in  her  head.  Various  remedies  were  suggested 
by  the  neighbors,  but  nothing  afforded  relief.  At 
last  a  man  came  along — a  common-sense  sort  of  a 
man  [inclining  his  head  deferentially  to  the  com- 
mittee]— who  was  asked  to  prescribe  for  the  diffi- 
culty. After  due  inquiry  and  examination,  he 
said: 

"  i  The  cure  is  very  simple.' 

"  '  What  is  it? '  wTas  the  anxious  question. 

"  '  Why,'  replied  he,  '  make  a  plaster  of  psalm- 
tunes  and  apply  to  the  feet,  and  draw  the  singing 
down!'" 

A    Mysterious  Englishman   advances   Five  Million 
Dollars  to  the  Government  * 

In  1862  Mr.  Charles  F.  Adams,  our  Ambas- 
sador to  Great  Britain,  learned  that  two  armored 
vessels  were  being  built  in  England  for  the  Con- 
federacy. When  completed  they  were  to  be  taken 
to  one  of  the  British  West  India  Islands,  wdiere 
the  Confederate  Government  would  take  posses- 
sion of  them,  man  them  with  sailors  and  soldiers, 
arm  them  with  guns,  and  proceed  to  destroy  all 
the  ships  of  the  United  States,  armed  or  not,  which 
they  could  find. 

*  Rewritten  from  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln  and 
his  Administration,  by  L.  E.  Chittenden.  Copyright,  1891,  by 
Harper  &  Bros. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        145 

In  short,  they  were  to  be  fitted  up  as  pirates, 
to  destroy  all  our  ships,  and  then  proceed  to  attack 
our  cities  along  the  seacoast  and  burn  them. 

Mr.  Adams,  seeing  the  great  danger  to  the 
Union  of  these  vessels,  acted  with  great  energy, 
endeavoring  to  make  the  British  Government  seize 
them,  or  prevent  their  departure. 

But  the  sympathy  of  the  British  Government 
was  with  the  South,  and,  although  the  case  was 
plainly  one  of  duty  to  a  friendly  government,  they 
refused. 

At  this  time  the  single  telegraph  cable  to  Eu- 
rope became  inoperative,  and  Lincoln  and  the 
people  here,  expected  soon  to  hear  that  these  two 
destroyers  of  commerce,  and  vessels  of  murder  and 
rapine,  would  soon  be  heard  from  upon  our  shores. 

Mr.  Adams  finally  succeeded  in  getting  copies 
of  the  commissions  bearing  Mr.  Davis's  (the  Con- 
federate President)  signature,  giving  the  names 
of  his  officers  to  command  these  boats;  and  this 
additional  proof  compelled  the  British  Govern- 
ment to  pause  and,  at  the  last  minute,  decide  to 
comply  with  his  demand. 

The  decision  came  too  late,  however,  to  enable 
Mr.  Adams  to  take  advantage  of  it,  as  it  required 
iiye  million  dollars  deposit  to  secure  the  reten- 
tion of  the  ships,  which  would  sail  within  three 
days  at  the  furthest. 

Mr.  Adams  could  not  telegraph  to  Washington 
10 


146 


LINCOLN  IN  STORY 


to  secure  the  money;  lie  knew  of  no  one  in  Eng- 
land of  whom  he  could  borrow  such  a  vast  sum 
without  security,  and  it  appeared  to  him  that  the 
British  lawyers  had  purposely  put  off  their  de- 
cision so  as  to  make  it 
worthless  to  him.  He 
was  in  despair. 

About  an  hour 
after  the  decision  of 
the  courts  reached  Mr. 
Adams,  and  when  he 
had  given  up  all  hope 
of  arresting  the  ships, 
a  quiet-looking  gentle- 
man called  upon  him 
and  said:  "  Mr.  Adams, 
may  I  be  favored  with 
the  opportunity  of  making  the  deposit  of  gold 
required  by  the  decision  to  obtain  the  arrest 
of  the  armored  ships?"  He  continued:  "It  oc- 
cured  to  me  that  even  if  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment had  that  amount  to  its  credit  here,  there 
might  be  some  embarrassment  or  difficulty  in 
getting  it  out  for  immediate  use,  so,  to  avoid 
such  possible  delay,  I  am  prepared  to  furnish  the 
gold  at  once." 

Mr.  Adams  was  astounded,  and  grasping  the 
gentleman's  hand  he  said:  "  Had  a  messenger  de- 
scended from  heaven  in  a  car  of  fire  I  could  not 


rcco^c^ 


J<lcl<z™d. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       147 

be  more  astonished.  It  seems  almost  like  a 
miracle!  " 

As  soon  as  lie  could  recover  from  his  surprise 
a  great  feeling  of  relief  and  happiness  came  over 
him,  and  he  could  hardly  express  his  feeling  of 
gratitude. 

The  English  gentleman  then  said:  "I  must, 
however,  insist  upon  one  condition,  and  that  is, 
that  my  name  shall  never  be  made  known  to  any 
one  in  connection  with  the  matter." 

This  Mr.  Adams  finally  agreed  to,  and  thus  the 
mysterious  Englishman,  whose  name  not  even 
Lincoln  ever  learned,  brought  timely  aid  to  our 
country,  which  probably  saved  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  property,  and  prevented  much  suffering 
and  possible  death  to  many  loyal  Americans. 

Mr.  L.  E.  Chittenden,  Chief  Registrar  of  the 
United  States  at  this  time,  relates  that  Mr.  Adams 
agreed  to  give  this  mysterious  Englishman  United 
States  bonds  to  the  value  of  ten  million  dollars  as 
security  for  this  loan. 

This  large  number  of  bonds  was  especially  is- 
sued without  the  customary  numbers,  and  was  not 
registered,  this  being  done  to  conceal  the  name  of 
the  Englishman. 

In  order  to  get  these  printed  and  delivered  on 
board  the  steamer  in  time  to  reach  England  in 
accordance  with  the  agreement  of  the  Ambassa- 
dor, Mr.  Chittenden,  the  Registrar,  worked  inces- 


148  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

santly,  writing  his  signature  without  intermission, 
for  nearly  forty-eight  hours. 

As  a  result  of  this  extra  strain  upon  his  nerves, 
his  hand  became  useless,  and  eventually  he  was 
compelled  to  resign  his  position.  However,  owing 
to  his  heroic  perseverance  and  suffering,  the  bonds 
were  delivered  on  time,  and  the  transaction  so  suc- 
cessfully begun  by  Mr.  Adams  was  thus  completed. 

"  I  will  risk  the  Dictatorship  " 
Remarkable  Letter  of  the  President  to  General  Joseph  Hooker 

While  President  Lincoln  made  it  a  point  never 
to  interfere  with  any  of  the  generals  "  at  the 
front,"  sometimes  he  wrote  letters  of  advice  in  a 
friendly,  almost  fatherly,  spirit. 

One  of  these  was  sent  to  General  Joseph 
Hooker  when  he  appointed  him  to  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.     He  wrote: 

"  I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  I  believe  you  to  be  a  brave  and 
skilful  soldier,  which  I  like.  I  believe  you  do  not 
mix  politics  with  your  profession,  in  which  you 
are  right.   .   .   . 

"  I  have  heard,  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe 
it,  of  your  recently  saying  that  both  the  army 
and  the  Government  needed  a  dictator.  Of  course 
it  was  not  for  this,  but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I  have 
given  you  the  command.  What  I  now  ask  of  you  is 
military  success,  and  I  will  risk  the  dictatorship" 


CHAPTEK  XIV 

Lincoln's  "  leg  cases  " — He  dismisses  a  Union  officer  for  trea- 
sonable language — The  widow  and  her  wounded  son — How 
Lincoln  plowed  around  the  Governor — The  "chin  fly" 
story — Making  a  minister  out  of  mud — Writing  a  pardon 
in  bed — Lincoln  and  the  sick  drummer — The  poor  woman 
and  her  two  sons. 

The  President  so  disliked  to  sign  a  death-war- 
rant that  sometimes  the  jndge-advocate  general 
of  the  army  despaired  of  punishing  men  in  the 
army  for  cowardice  and  desertion. 

Lincoln  would  say,  after  he  had  explained  a 
case,  "  Well,  I  will  keep  this  a  few  days  until  I 
have  more  time  to  read  the  testimony  " ;  or,  again, 
"  I  must  put  this  by  until  I  can  settle  in  my  mind 
whether  this  soldier  can  better  serve  the  country 
dead  than  living." 

Finally,  one  day  the  judge  brought  him  the 
case  of  a  soldier  who,  in  the  crisis  of  a  battle,  de- 
moralized his  regiment  by  throwing  down  his  gun 
and  hiding  behind  a  tree.  The  evidence  was  plain, 
and  not  denied — the  court-martial  condemned  him 
to  be  shot.  He  had  no  father,  mother,  wife,  or 
child  to  plead  for  him,   and   the  judge   thought 

149 


150  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

surely  this  was  a  case  that  could  only  meet  with 
the  President's  approval;  but  Lincoln,  after  run- 
ning his  fingers  through  his  hair,  said:  "  Well, 
after  all,  judge,  I  think  I  must  put  this  with  my 
'  leg  cases.'  " 

"  Leg  cases!"  exclaimed  the  judge,  frowning 
at  the  supposed  levity  of  the  President.  "  What 
do  you  mean  by  '  leg  cases,'  sir?" 

"  Why,  why,"  replied  the  President,  "  do  you 
see  those  papers  crowded  into  those  pigeonholes? 
They  are  cases  that  you  call  by  that  long  title, 
i  Cowardice  in  the  face  of  the  enemy ' ;  but  I  call 
them  for  short,  my  '  leg  cases,'  and  I  put  it  to  you, 
and  leave  it  to  you,  to  decide  for  yourself,  if  Al- 
mighty God  gives  a  man  a  cowardly  pair  of  legs, 
how  can  he  help  them  running  away  with  him?  " 

The  President  dismisses  a  Union  Officer  for  Treason- 
able Language 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  Antietam  the  Presi- 
dent heard  many  stories  of  officers  and  men 
who  were  hostile  to  him  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

To  these  he  paid  no  attention,  until  one  day 
he  was  told  that  a  major,  John  J.  Key,  who  was 
on  McClellan's  staff,  had  replied  to  a  brother 
officer,  who  asked  the  question,  "  Why  was  not 
the  rebel  army  i  bagged  '  [captured]  immediately 
after  the  battle  near  Sharpsburg?  "  that  "  That 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        151 

is  not  the  game.  The  object  is  that  neither  army 
shall  get  much  the  advantage  of  the  other.  That 
both  shall  be  kept  in  the  field  till  they  are  ex- 
hausted, when  we  will  make  a  compromise  and 
save  slavery." 

Upon  hearing  this  the  President  sent  a  letter 
to  the  major,  informing  him  of  the  serious  charge, 
and  inviting  him  to  disprove  it  within  twenty-four 
hours  from  date,  September  27,  1862. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  major  appeared  at  the 
"White  House  with  the  officer  who  had  asked  him 
the  question. 

The  President  immediately  made  the  men  tell 
exactly  what  had  been  said. 

Major  Turner  answered:  "  As  I  remember  it, 
the  conversation  was  this:  I  asked  the  question 
why  we  did  not  '  bag '  them  [the  Confederate 
Army]  after  the  battle  of  Sharpsburg? 

"  Major  Key  replied:  '  That  was  not  the  game. 
We  should  tire  the  rebels  and  ourselves  out;  that 
that  was  the  only  way  the  Union  could  be  pre- 
served; then  we  will  come  together  fraternally, 
and  slavery  will  be  saved.'  ' 

Major  Key  did  not  deny  this,  though  he  stoutly 
maintained  his  loyalty  to  the  Union  cause. 

The  President  said:  "  Gentlemen,  if  there  is  a 
game,  even  among  Union  men,  to  have  our  army 
not  take  any  advantage  of  the  enemy  it  can,  it  is 
my  object  to  break  up  the  '  game.' ' 


152  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

He  then  wrote  out  an  order  for  the  immediate 
dismissal  of  the  officer,  saying: 

"  In  my  view  it  is  wholly  inadmissible  for  any 
man  holding  a  military  commission  from  the 
United  States  to  utter  such  sentiments  as  Major 
Key  is  proved  to  have  done. 

"  Therefore,  let  Major  John  J.  Key  be  forth- 
with dismissed  from  the  military  service  of  the 
United  States." 

The  dismissed  officer  left  the  room  ashamed 
and  crestfallen,  and  his  discharge  carried  fear  into 
the  ranks  of  those  who  were  hoping  to  prevent 
the  success  of  the  Union  armies,  and  at  the  same 
time  perpetuate  slavery,  which  caused  the  war. 

Lincoln  afterward  said  to  a  friend :  "  I  dis- 
missed Major  Key  because  I  thought  his  silly  trea- 
sonable expressions  were  (  staff  talk,'  and  I  wished 
to  make  an  example." 

The  Widow  and  her  Wounded  Son 

In  the  spring  of  1863,  one  morning  a  sad  and 
anxious-looking  lady  appeared  at  Fort  Henry, 
Baltimore,  before  the  commanding  officer. 

She  said:  "  I  am  a  widow,  a  resident  of  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  but  although  a  native  of  that  State, 
I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  rebellion.  I  have 
an  only  son  who  was  a  student  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  and  now,  just  after  the  battle  of  Nash- 
ville, I  learn  that,  without  my  consent,  he  has 


,,  ,    ,       f 

etc  (>yjo   o^e^  enr  CLe%*   fa  fl^iA^+i  Ji^joJc,  ht^-t^  cyc**«j 

Facsimile  of  draft  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       153 

enlisted  in  the  Confederate  Army,  and  lias  been 
severely  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  Union 
forces.  I  have  been  searching  for  him  ever  since, 
following  him  to  Louisville,  Wheeling,  W.  Va., 
and  thence  to  Fort  Henry,  Here  I  learn  that  he 
is  in  the  hospital." 

The  mother  was  anxious  to  see  her  boy,  but 
only  a  short  time  before,  orders  had  come  from 
the  War  Department  prohibiting  any  visitors  to 
prisoners  of  war. 

The  surgeon  was  sent  for,  and  assured  the 
faithful  mother  that  her  son  would  recover,  and 
finally,  to  relieve  her  anxiety,  the  surgeon  said: 

"  Let  me  show  you,  madam,  one  or  two  of  our 
prisoners'  wards,  so  you  may  see  for  yourself  how 
well  our  Government  takes  care  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  enemies  who  are  captured." 

The  widow  gladly  accepted  the  invitation;  but 
they  had  hardly  entered  the  room  when  the  anx- 
ious woman  discovered  her  boy  through  the  half- 
opened  door  of  an  adjoining  room. 

Rushing  forward,  she  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  my 
blessed  boy,  I  must  see  you  if  I  die  for  it!  "  and 
quickly  reached  the  cot  where  her  son  was  lying. 

The  astonished  surgeon  followed,  only  to  see 
her  on  her  knees  holding  her  boy's  head  on  her 
bosom.  The  kind-hearted  surgeon  then  turned 
away  and  left  them  together  undisturbed. 

The  lady  soon  returned  to  the  office  and  said: 


154  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  Oh,  sir,  my  boy  is  sorry  he  joined  the  army,  and 
wishes  to  give  his  parole  never  to  enter  the  Con- 
federate service  again.  Will  the  authorities  permit 
this?     May  I  go  again  to  headquarters?" 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  surgeon,  and  soon  after 
she  had  a  letter  from  the  commandant  to  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

In  two  days  she  returned  from  Washington 
and  told  her  story : 

"  I  took  your  note  to  General  Hoffman,  who 
went  with  me  to  Secretary  Stanton's  office.  As  we 
entered,  the  Secretary  was  writing  at  his  desk. 
General  Hoffman  said :  '  Mr.  Secretary,  this  is 
the  lady  I  spoke  to  you  about.  She  wishes  to 
consult  with  you  about  releasing  her  son,  a 
prisoner  of  war,  wounded,  in  the  hospital  at  Fort 
Henry.' 

"  The  general  then  left  me  alone.  After  a 
minute  the  Secretary  turned  in  his  chair  and 
abruptly  said,  in  a  severe  tone:  '  So  you  are  the 
woman  who  has  a  son,  a  prisoner  of  war,  at  Fort 
Henry?' 

"  '  I  am  so  unfortunate,'  I  said.  Then  the 
Secretary  shouted  in  a  loud  voice :  i  I  have  noth- 
ing to  say  to  you,  and  no  time  to  waste  over  you. 
If  you  have  raised  up  sons  to  rebel  against  the 
best  government  under  the  sun,  you  and  they  must 
take  the  consequences.' 

"  I  attempted  to  tell  him  my  story,  but  he 


SEVENTH   PEEIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       155 

would  not  listen,  and  fairly  yelled  at  me  in  an 
insane  rage — 

"  '  I  don't  want  to  hear  a  word  from  you.  I 
have  no  time  to  waste,  and  want  you  to  go  at 
once.' 

"  I  left,"  she  said,  "  and  am  thankful  I  escaped 
alive*.  Oh!  why  are  such  men  entrusted  with  au- 
thority? "  and  she  sobbed  as  if  her  heart  would 
break. 

After  a  moment  of  silence  the  commandant  of 
Fort  Henry  asked  if  she  could  go  again  to  Wash- 
ington? She  answered,  "  Yes,  but  not  to  see  that 
man." 

The  next  day  he  drew  up  a  statement  of  the 
case,  addressed  to  the  President,  asking  a  parole 
for  the  boy,  which  the  surgeon  signed,  as  did  also 
the  lady. 

After  an  absence  of  three  days  she  returned, 
with  joy  in  her  face  and  with  tears  glistening  in 
her  eyes.  Handing  the  officer  the  paper  with  the 
order  freeing  her  son  written  in  pencil  upon  it, 
she  exclaimed  with  deep  emotion:  "  My  boy  is 
free!  Thank  God  for  such  a  President!  He  is 
the  soul  of  goodness  and  honor." 

She  then  gave  the  commandant  the  order, 
which  read  as  follows: 

"  General:  You  will  deliver  to  the  bearer, 
Mrs.  Winston,  her  son,  now  a  prisoner  of  war  at 


156  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Fort  Henry,  and  permit  her  to  take  him  where 
she  will,  upon  his  taking  the  proper  parole  never 
to  take  up  arms  against  the  United  States. 

"  [Signed.]  Abraham  Lincoln." 

The  lady  then  said :  "  The  President  treated 
me  with  the  kindness  of  a  brother.  When  I  was 
shown  into  his  presence  he  was  alone;  he  immedi- 
ately arose  and,  pointing  to  a  chair  by  his  side, 
said :  '  Take  this  seat,  madam,  and  tell  me  what 
I  can  do  for  you.'  I  took  the  envelope  and  asked 
if  he  would  read  the  enclosures.  '  Certainly/  he 
replied,  and  proceeded  to  read  the  documents  very 
carefully.  When  he  had  finished,  he  turned  to 
me,  and  with  emotion  said :  '  Are  you,  madam, 
the  unhappy  mother  of  this  wounded  and  im- 
prisoned boy? ' 

"  <  I  am/  I  said. 

"  '  And  do  you  believe  he  will  honor  his  parole 
if  I  permit  him  to  take  it  and  go  with  you? '  he 
continued. 

"  '  I  am  ready,  Mr.  President,  to  risk  my  per- 
sonal liberty  upon  it/  I  replied. 

"  '  You  shall  have  your  boy,  my  dear  madam/ 
he  said.  '  To  take  him  from  the  ranks  of  rebellion 
and  give  him  to  a  loyal  mother  is  a  better  invest- 
ment for  this  Government  than  to  give  him  up  to 
its  deadly  enemies.' 

"  Then,  taking  the  envelope,  he  wrote  with  his 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       15? 

own  pencil  the  order  which  you  see  upon  it.  As 
he  handed  it  to  me  he  said :  '  There !  Give  that 
to  the  commandant  at  the  fort.  You  will  be  per- 
mitted to  take  your  boy  with  you  where  you  will, 
and  God  grant  he  may  prove  a  great  blessing  to 
you  and  an  honor  to  his  country.'  " 

The  boy  was  soon  removed  from  the  fort, 
and,  under  the  tender  nursing  of  his  mother,  was 
able,  in  a  few  months,  to  resume  his  studies  in  a 
Northern  college. 

How  Lincoln  "Plowed  Around"  the  Governor 

General  James  B.  Fry  related  that  upon  one 
occasion  the  Governor  of  a  State  came  to  him  full 
of  complaints  against  the  President  about  the 
number  of  troops  required  from  his  State,  and  the 
method  of  drafting  them. 

"  I  finally  took  him  to  the  Secretary  of  War," 
said  the  general,  "  where,  after  a  stormy  and  fruit- 
less interview  with  Stanton,  he  went  alone  to  see 
the  President. 

"  After  waiting  some  hours,  anxiously  expect- 
ing important  orders  from  the  President,  or  at 
least  a  summons  to  the  White  House  to  explain 
matters,  the  Governor  returned,  and  said,  with 
a  pleasant  smile,  1 1  am  going  home  by  the  next 
train,  and  merely  dropped  in  on  the  way  to  say 
"Good-by!"' 

"  He  did  not  speak  of  his  business  interview 


158  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

with  Lincoln,  and  as  soon  as  I  could  see  the  Presi- 
dent I  said :  '  Mr.  President,  I  am  anxious  to  learn 

how  you  disposed  of  Governor  .     He  went 

to  your  office  from  the  War  Department  in  a 
towering  rage.  I  suppose  you  found  it  necessary 
to  make  large  concessions  to  him.,  as  he  returned 
from  you  entirely  satisfied.' 

"  '  Oh,  no/  replied  the  President.  '  I  did  not 
concede  anything.  You  know  how  that  Illinois 
farmer  managed  the  big  log  that  lay  in  the  middle 
of  his  field?7 

"  '  To  the  inquiries  of  his  neighbors  one  Sun- 
day, he  announced  that  he  had  gotten  rid  of  the 
big  log.' 

"  '  "  Got  rid  of  it!  "  said  they.  "  How  did  you 
do  it?  It  was  too  big  to  haul  away,  too  knotty  to 
split,  too  wet  and  soggy  to  burn;  what  did  you 
do?" 

"  '  "  Well,  now,  boys,"  replied  the  farmer,  "  if 
you  won't  tell  the  secret,  I'll  tell  you  how.  I  just 
plowed  around  it." 

"  '  Now,'  said  Lincoln,  '  don't  tell  anybody, 
but  that's  the  way  I  got  rid  of  the  Governor.  I 
just  plowed  around  him;  but  it  took  me  three  mor- 
tal hours  to  do  it,  and  I  was  afraid  every  minute 
he'd  see  what  I  was  at.'  " 

Thus  the  great  President  had  settled  a  difficult 
matter  by  simply  entertaining  the  Governor  with 
his  wit  and  humour  for  three  hours. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        159 

The  Presidential  Chin-fly  Story* 

One  day  before  Lincoln's  renomination  for  the 
presidency,  a  friend  spoke  to  him  of  a  certain 
member  of  his  Cabinet  who  was  also  a  candidate 
in  opposition  to  him. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "  I  don't  concern  myself 
about  that.  It  is  important  to  the  country  that 
the  department  over  which  my  rival  presides 
should  be  administered  with  vigor  and  energy, 
and  whatever  will  stimulate  the  Secretary  of  that 
department  to  such  action  will  do  good. 

"  My  friend,"  the  president  continued,  "  you 
were  brought  up  on  a  farm,  were  you  not?  Then 
you  know  what  a  chin-fly  is. 

"  My  brother  and  I,"  he  went  on,  "  were 
once  plowing  on  a  Kentucky  farm.  I  was  driv- 
ing and  he  held  the  plow.  The  horse  was  lazy, 
but  on  one  occasion  he  rushed  across  the  field  so 
fast  that  I,  with  my  long  legs,  could  scarcely 
keep  pace  with  him.  On  reaching  the  end  of  the 
furrow  I  found  an  enormous  chin-fly  fastened  on 
him,  and  knocked  him  off. 

"  My  brother  asked:  '  Why  did  you  do  that? ' 
I  told  him  I  did  not  want  the  horse  bitten  in  that 
way.  '  Why,'  said  he,  l  that's  all  that  made  him 
go.' 

*  Selected  from  Carpenter's  Recollections,  and  published  by 
permission  of  The  Independent. 


160  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  Now,"  said  Lincoln,  "  if  Secretary has 

a  presidential  chin-fly  on  him,  I'm  not  going  to 
knock  it  off,  if  it  will  only  make  his  depart- 
ment go" 

Making  a  Minister  out  of  Mud 

■  An  incident  illustrating  Lincoln's  keen  sense 
of  the  ludicrous,  regardless  of  the  character  or 
position  of  persons  or  ideas  caricatured,  occurred 
during  the  last  year  of  the  war.  About  that  time 
a  delegation  of  clergymen  waited  on  the  Presi- 
dent in  reference  to  the  appointment  of  army 
chaplains.  The  delegation  consisted  of  a  Presby- 
terian, a  Baptist,  and  an  Episcopal  clergyman. 
They  said  that  the  character  of  many  of  the  chap- 
lains was  notoriously  bad,  and  they  had  come  to 
urge  upon  the  President  the  necessity  of  more  dis- 
cretion in  those  appointments. 

"  But,  gentlemen,"  said  the  President,  "  that 
is  a  matter  with  which  the  Government  has  nothing 
to  do;  the  chaplains  are  elected  by  the  members 
of  the  regiments." 

Not  satisfied  with  this,  the  clergymen  pressed 
in  turn  a  change  in  the  system. 

Mr.  Lincoln  heard  them  through  without  a 
remark,  and  then  said: 

"  Without  any  disrespect,  gentlemen,  I  will 
tell  you  a  little  story. 

"  Once   in   Springfield,   111.,   I   was   going   off 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        161 

on  a  short  journey,  and  reached  the  depot  a  little 
ahead  of  time.  Leaning  against  the  fence  out- 
side the  station  was  a  little  darky  boy,  whom  I 
knew,  named  Dick,  busily  digging  with  his  toe 
in  a  mud-puddle.  As  I  came  up  I  said :  '  Dick, 
what  are  you  about  ? ' 

"  '  Making  a  church,'  said  he. 

"  '  A  church? '  said  I.     '  What  do  you  mean? ' 

"  '  Why,  yes,'  said  Dick,  pointing  with  his  toe. 
i  Don't  you  see?  There's  the  steps  and  there's 
the  door,  here's  the  pews  where  the  folks  sit,  and 
there's  the  pulpit.' 

"  c  Yes,  I  see,'  said  I,  e  but  why  don't  you 
make  a  minister? ' 

"  i  Laws,'  answered  Dick  with  a  grin,  '  'cause 
I  hain't  got  mud  enough.'  " 

Lincoln  Writes  a  Pardon  while  in  Bed 

Mr.  Carpenter,  in  his  interesting  little  book 
Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  relates  the  fol- 
lowing: * 

"  My  friend  Kellog,  representative  from  Essex 
County,  Kew  York,  received  a  despatch  one  even- 
ing from  the  army  to  the  effect  that  a  young 
townsman  whom  he  had  induced  to  enlist  had, 
for  a  serious  misdemeanor,  been  convicted  by  a 

*  Selected  from  Carpenter's  Recollections,  and  published  by 
permission  of  The  Independent. 
11 


162  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

court-martial  and  was  to  be  shot  the  next  day. 
Greatly  agitated,  Mr.  Kellog  went  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  and  urged  in  the  strongest  manner  a 
reprieve.  Stanton  was  inexorable.  '  Too  many 
cases  of  the  kind  had  been  let  off/  he  said,  '  and 
it  was  time  an  example  was  made.7  Exhausting  his 
eloquence  in  vain,  Mr.  Kellog  finally  said: 

"  '  Well,  Mr.  Secretary,  the  boy  is  not  going 
to  be  shot;  of  that  I  give  you  fair  warning.7 

"  Leaving  the  War  Department,  he  went  di- 
rectly to  the  White  House,  although  the  hour 
was  late.  The  sentinel  on  duty  told  him  he  had 
special  orders  to  admit  no  one  whatsoever  that 
night. 

"  After  a  long  parley,  by  pledging  himself  to 
assume  the  responsibility  of  the  act,  the  Congress- 
man passed  in.  The  President  had  retired,  but, 
indifferent  to  etiquette  or  ceremony,  Judge  Kellog 
pressed  his  way  through  all  obstacles  to  his  sleep- 
ing apartments.  In  an  excited  manner  he  stated 
that  a  despatch  announcing  the  hour  of  the  boy's 
execution  had  just  reached  him. 

"  l  This  man  must  not  be  shot,  Mr.  President/ 
said  he.  '1  can't  help  what  he  may  have  done! 
Why,  he  is  an  old  neighbor  of  mine.  I  can't  allow 
him  to  be  killed.7 

"  The  President  had  remained  in  bed,  quietly 
listening  to  the  vehement  protestations  of  his  old 
friend  (they  had  been  in  Congress  together).     He 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        163 

at  length  said :  '  Well,  I  don't  believe  shooting 
will  do  him  any  good;  give  me  that  pen/  and  so 
saying,  he  wrote  out  a  reprieve  which  gave  the 
young  man  another  chance  and  a  new  lease  of 
life." 

Thus  it  was  that  the  kind-hearted  Lincoln 
brushed  official  red  tape  aside  and  defied  all  prece- 
dent to  save  the  lives  of  the  soldiers. 

Lincoln  and  the  Sick  Drummer  Boy 

Among  a  large  number  of  persons  waiting  in 
the  room  to  speak  with  the  President  on  a  certain 
day  in  November,  186-i,  was  a  small,  pale,  deli- 
cate-looking boy,  apparently  thirteen  years  old. 

Mr.  Lincoln  saw  him  standing,  looking  feeble 
and  faint,  and  said: 

"  Come  here,  my  boy,  and  tell  me  what  you 
want." 

The  boy  advanced,  placed  his  hand  on  the  arm 
of  the  President's  chair,  and  with  bowed  head  and 
timid  accents  said:  "  Mr.  President,  I  have  been  a 
drummer  boy  in  a  regiment  for  two  years,  and 
my  colonel  got  angry  with  me  and  turned  me 
off.  I  was  taken  sick  and  have  been  in  hospital 
for  a  long  time.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have 
been  out,  and  I  came  to  see  if  you  could  not  do 
something  for  me." 

The  President  looked  at  him  kindly,  and  said: 
"  Where  do  you  live  ?  " 


164  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  I  have  no  home/'  replied  the  boy. 

"  Where  is  your  father?  "  continued  Lincoln. 

"  He  died  in  the  army." 

"  Where  is  your  mother?  " 

"  My  mother  is  dead  also.  I  have  no  home, 
no  mother,  no  father,  brother  or  sister,  and  " — 
bursting  into  tears — "no  friends;  nobody  cares 
for  me." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  he 
said: 

"  Can't  you  sell  newspapers?  " 

"  No,"  replied  the  boy,  "  I  am  too  weak;  and 
the  surgeon  in  the  hospital  said  I  must  leave,  and 
I  have  no  home  and  no  place  to  go." 

The  President  at  once  took  out  one  of  his  own 
cards  and  wrote  on  it,  "  Take  care  of  this  poor 
boy,"  and  addressed  it  to  an  official  to  whom  his  re- 
quest was  law,  saying,  as  he  handed  it  to  the  boy, 
"  There,  my  little  man,  you  will  find  some  one 
who  will  care  for  you." 

The  wan  face  of  the  little  drummer  boy 
lighted  up  with  a  happy  smile  as  he  took  the  card 
and  stammered  his  thanks,  and  he  went  away  con- 
vinced that  he  had  at  last  a  true  friend  in  the 
person  of  the  President. 

The  Poor  Woman  and  her  Two  Sons 

An  instance  showing  the  President's  keen  sense 
of  justice  occurred  during  the  closing  year  of  the 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        105 

war,  as  related  by  a  Mr.  Murtagh,  of  the  Wash- 
ington Republican.     Said  he: 

"  I  was  waiting  my  turn  to  speak  to  the  Presi- 
dent when  my  attention  was  attracted  by  the  sad, 
patient  face  of  a  woman  advanced  in  life,  who, 
in  a  faded  shawl  and  hood,  was  among  the  appli- 
cants for  an  interview.  Presently  Mr.  Lincoln 
turned  to  her,  saying  in  his  accustomed  manner: 

"  '  Well,  my  good  woman,  what  can  I  do  for 
you  this  morning?  ' 

"  '  Mr.  President,'  said  she,  '  my  husband  and 
three  sons  all  went  into  the  army;  my  husband 

was  killed  in  the  battle  of .     I  get  along  very 

badly  since  then  living  all  alone,  and  I  thought 
I  would  come  and  ask  you  to  release  to  me  my 
eldest  son.' 

"  Mr  Lincoln  looked  in  her  face  a  moment, 
and  in  his  kindest  accents  replied: 

"  '  Certainly!  certainly!  If  you  have  given  us 
all  and  your  prop  has  been  taken  away,  you  are 
justly  entitled  to  one  of  your  boys.' 

"  He  immediately  made  out  the  order  dis- 
charging the  young  man,  which  the  woman  took, 
and  thanking  him  gratefully,  went  away. 

"  I  had  forgotten  the  circumstance,"  con- 
tinued Mr.  Murtagh,  "  till  last  week,  when  hap- 
pening to  be  there  again,  who  should  come  in  but 
the  same  woman.  It  happened  that  she  had  gone 
herself  to  the  front  with  the  President's  order,  and 


166  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ascertained  that  the  son  she  was  in  search  of  had 
been  mortally  wounded  in  a  recent  battle  and  taken 
to  the  hospital.  She  found  the  hospital,  but  her  boy 
was  dead  or  died  while  she  was  there.  The  surgeon 
in  charge  made  a  memorandum  of  the  facts  on  the 
back  of  the  President's  order,  and,  almost  broken- 
hearted, the  poor  woman  had  found  her  way  again 
into  Mr.  Lincoln's  presence.  He  was  much  af- 
fected by  her  appearance  and  story,  and  said: 

"  '  I  know  what  you  wish  me  to  do  now,  and  I 
shall  do  it  without  your  asking.  I  shall  release 
to  you  your  second  son.'  Upon  this  he  took  his 
pen  and  commenced  writing  the  order. 

"  While  he  was  writing,  the  grief-stricken 
woman  stood  by  his  side,  the  tears  streaming  down 
her  face,  and  passed  her  hand  softly  over  his  head, 
stroking  his  hair  as  I  have  seen  a  fond  mother 
caress  her  son. 

"  By  the  time  he  had  finished  writing,  his  own 
heart  and  eyes  were  full.  He  handed  her  the 
paper,  saying,  most  tenderly,  and  controlling  his 
voice  with  difficulty:  '  Now  you  have  one  and  I 
have  one  of  the  other  two  left;  that  is  no  more 
than  right.' 

"  She  took  the  paper,  and  reverently  placing 
her  hand  upon  his  head,  said: 

"'The  Lord  bless  you,  Mr.  Lincoln!  May 
you  live  a  thousand  years,  and  may  you  always 
be  the  head  of  this  great  nation.'  " 


CHAPTEE  XV 

"It  was  the  baby  did  it" — The  President  ejects  an  insolent 
officer — He  reinstates  a  Union  officer — A  young  officer 
compels  Lincoln  to  obey  orders — He  repeats  poetry  for 
Mr.  Carpenter — He  replies  angrily  to  Joseph  Medill. 

The  President  was  always  very  fond  of  little 
children.  In  Springfield  he  had  one  or  two  of 
his  little  boys  with  him  nearly  always.  And 
when  his  favorite  son  Willie  died,  in  February, 
1862,  the  loss  nearly  drove  Lincoln  insane. 
He  suffered  so  intensely  and  his  grief  was  so 
great  that  his  friends  became  anxious  for  his 
health. 

His  love  for  little  children,  and  kind  consid- 
eration for  the  poor  in  distress,  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  following  anecdote,  which  was  related  by 
"  old  Daniel,"  the  private  servant  of  President 
Lincoln: 

A  poor  woman  from  Philadelphia  had  been 
waiting  three  days  with  a  baby  in  her  arms  to  see 
the  President.  It  appeared  from  her  story  that 
her  husband  had  sent  a  substitute  to  the  army, 
but  afterward,  when  intoxicated,  was  induced  to 

167 


1G8  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

enlist.  Upon  reaching  the  post  assigned  to  his 
regiment  he  deserted,  thinking  the  Government 
was  not  entitled  to  his  services.  Returning  home, 
he  was  arrested,  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to 
be  shot. 

Said  Daniel,  in  relating  it:*  "  She  had  been 
waiting  three  days  and  there  wasn't  a  chance  for 
her  to  get  in. 

"  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  the 
President  was  going  through  a  passage  to  his  pri- 
vate room  to  get  a  cup  of  tea.  On  the  way  he 
heard  a  baby  cry;  he  instantly  went  back  to  his 
office  and  rang  the  bell. 

"  '  Daniel,'  said  he,  '  is  there  a  woman  with  a 
babe  in  the  anteroom?' 

"  I  said :  i  Yes,  sir,  and  if  you  will  allow  me 
to  say  it,  it  is  a  case  you  ought  to  see,  for  it  is  a 
matter  of  life  and  death.' 

"  Lincoln  said:  '  Send  her  to  me  at  once.' 

"  She  went  in,  told  her  story,  and  the  Presi- 
dent pardoned  her  husband. 

"  As  the  woman  came  out  from  his  presence 
her  eyes  were  lifted  in  prayer,  and  tears  were 
streaming  down  her  cheeks.  I  went  up  to  her, 
and,  pulling  her  shawl,  said :  '  Madam,  it  was  the 
baby  that  did  it.'  " 

*  Selected  from  Carpenter's  Recollections,  and  published  by 
permission  of  The  Independent. 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        169 

The  President  ejects  an  Insolent  Officer 

That  Mr.  Lincoln  could  be  firm  in  the  cause 
of  justice,  as  well  as  lenient  in  the  cause  of  mercy, 
is  shown  by  the  following  incident  which  occurred 
at  the  White  House  in  1864: 

Among  the  callers  one  day  there  appeared  an 
officer  who  had  been  cashiered  from  the  service. 

He  had  prepared  an  elaborate  defense  of  him- 
self, and  he  consumed  much  time  in  reading  it 
to  the  President. 

When  he  had  finished,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied 
that  even  upon  his  own  statement  of  the  case  the 
facts  did  not  warrant  his  (the  President's)  interfer- 
ence. Greatly  disappointed  and  crestfallen,  the 
officer  withdrew.  A  few  days  afterward  he  came 
again  and  wrent  over  practically  the  same  ground 
without  accomplishing  his  purpose. 

The  third  time  he  forced  his  way  into  Mr. 
Lincoln's  presence,  who,  with  great  forbearance, 
again  listened  to  the  repetition  of  his  arguments, 
but  made  no  reply. 

The  man  evidently  seeing  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
face  no  sympathy  for  him,  turned  abruptly  and 
said: 

"  Well,  Mr.  President,  I  see  you  are  fully  de- 
termined not  to  do  me  justice." 

This  was  too  much  even  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  who, 
without  showing  any  feeling,  quietly  arose,   and 


170  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

laying  some  papers  upon  the  desk,  suddenly  seized 
the  man  by  his  coat-collar  and  marched  him  to 
the  door,  saying,  as  he  ejected  him  into  the  hall, 
"  Sir,  I  give  you  fair  warning  never  to  show 
yourself  in  this  room  again.  I  can  bear  censure 
but  not  insult." 

In  a  whining  tone  the  man  begged  for  his 
papers  which  he  had  dropped. 

"  Begone,  sir,"  said  the  President.  "  Your 
papers  will  be  sent  to  you.  I  never  wish  to  see 
your  face  again." 

A  Union  Officer  Reinstated  by  the  President 

The  high  sense  of  justice,  as  well  as  the 
political  sagacity  of  Lincoln,  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  following  story  told  by  Mr.  E.  "W.  An- 
drews : 

"  I  was  still  on  duty  in  the  defenses  of  Balti- 
more when  the  presidential  campaign  of  1864  oc- 
curred. I  had  been  a  lifelong  Democrat  and  I 
favored  the  election  of  McClellan,  the  candidate 
of  my  party.  One  evening  in  September,  1864, 
I  was  invited  by  a  few  friends  to  go  with  them 
to  a  Democratic  meeting.  I  agreed  to  go  for  a 
few  minutes  only. 

"  To  my  surprise  and  annoyance,  I  was  called 
on  by  the  audience  for  a  speech.  Being  obliged 
to  say  something,  I  contented  myself  with  a  short 
expression  of  my  regard  for  McClellan  and  stated 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       171 

my  intention  to  vote  for  him.  I  made  no  refer- 
ence to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  soon  left  the  hall. 

"  The  next  day  an  order  came  from  Secretary 
Stanton,  directing  me  to  be  mustered  out  of  service. 
No  reason  was  given,  no  opportunity  for  defense. 

"  As  I  was  and  always  had  been  a  Union  man, 
as  I  had  a  brother  and  three  sons  in  the  Union 
Army,  and  as  I  learned  that  my  speech  at  the 
meeting,  when  reported  to  Stanton,  had  made  him 
very  angry  and  caused  him  to  utter  severe  threats 
against  me,  I  determined  to  go  to  Washington  to 
find  out  the  reason  of  his  attempt  to  disgrace  me. 

'h  As  no  other  pretext  could  be  given  for  the 
Secretary's  action,  I  resolved  to  appeal  to  the 
President. 

"  I  gave  my  statement  of  the  facts  to  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  with  the  request  that  he  would 
ask  Mr.  Lincoln  whether  the  dismissal  was  by  his 
order,  knowledge,  or  consent. 

"  He  did  so.  The  President  immediately  re- 
plied: '1  know  nothing  about  it;  of  course  Stan- 
ton does  a  thousand  things  in  his  official  character 
which  I  can  know  nothing  about,  and  which  it  is 
not  necessary  that  I  should  know  anything  about.' 

"  Having  heard  the  case,  he  added : 

"  c  "Well,  that's  no  reason.  Andrews  has  as 
good  a  right  to  hold  on  to  his  Democracy  if  he 
chooses,  as  Stanton  has  to  throw  his  overboard. 

"  '  If  I  should  muster  out  all  my  generals  who 


172  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

avow  themselves  Democrats,  there  would  be  a  sad 
thinning  out  of  the  commissioned  officers  of  the 
army.  No !  '  he  continued,  l  when  the  military 
duties  of  a  soldier  are  fully  and  faithfully  per- 
formed, he  can  manage  his  politics  his  own  way. 
We  have  no  more  to  do  with  that  than  with  his 
religion.' 

"  '  Tell  this  officer  he  can  return  to  his  post, 
and  if  there  is  no  other  or  better  reason  for  his 
dismissal  by  Stanton,  it  shall  do  him  no  harm;  the 
commission  he  holds  will  remain  good  as  new. 
Supporting  General  McClellan  is  no  violation  of 
army  regulations;  and  as  a  question  of  taste,  choos- 
ing between  him  and  me — well,  I'm  the  longest, 
but  McClellan  is  better-looking.'  " 

Thus,  with  a  jest,  Lincoln  disposed  of  a  case 
which  Stanton,  in  his  ill-temper,  would  have  made 
a  great  fuss  about,  and  which  would,  without 
doubt,  have  caused  Lincoln's  own  defeat  at  the 
election  if  he  had  supported  him  in  it. 

By  insisting  that  every  soldier  should  be 
given  perfect  liberty  to  vote  as  he  wished,  the 
President  made  many  friends  and  won  the  admira- 
tion even  of  his  enemies. 

At  the  Battle  of  Fort   Stevens  President    Lincoln 
Obeys  the  Orders  of  the  Officer  of  the  Day 

When  the  Confederate  Army,  under  General 
Early,  tried  to  capture  the  Capitol,  July  11,  1864, 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        173 

the  President  and  many  of  his  Cabinet  went  out 
to  witness  the  battle. 

Mr.  Chittenden,  the  Registrar  of  the  Treas- 
ury, relates  the  incident  as  follows:  * 

"  Leaving  the  ditch,  my  pass  carried  me  to 
the  fort,  where,  to  my  surprise,  I  found  the  Presi- 
dent, Secretary  Stanton,  and  other  civilians. 

"  A  young  colonel  of 
artillery,  who  was  officer 
of  the  day  [commander] , 
was  in  great  distress  be- 
cause the  President 
would  expose  himself, 
and  gave  no  attention  to 
his  warnings. 

"  The  officer  said  the 
enemy  had  already  recog- 
nized him,  he  knew,  for 
they  were  concentrating    ^^^fYu.'&WW 
their  fire  on  him,  and  a 

soldier  standing  near  had  just  been  shot  through 
the  thigh. 

"  He  asked  my  advice,  for  he  said,  '  The  Presi- 
dent is  in  great  danger.' 

"  c  What  would  you  do  with  me  under  like  cir- 
cumstances? '  I  asked. 

*  From  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Admin- 
istration, by  L.  E.  Chittenden.  Copyright,  1891,  by  Harper  & 
Bros. 


174  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  '  I  would  civilly  ask  you  to  take  a  position 
where  you  were  not  exposed/  he  answered. 

"  c  And  if  I  refused  to  obey  you? '  I  queried 
again. 

"  { I  would  send  a  sergeant  and  file  of  men, 
and  make  you  obey/  he  replied. 

"  Then  treat  the  President  just  as  you  would 
me  or  any  civilian/  I  said. 

"  c  I  dare  not;  he  is  my  superior  officer.  I 
have  taken  an  oath  to  obey  his  orders/  the  officer 
exclaimed. 

"  '  He  has  given  you  no  orders.  Follow  my  ad- 
vice and  you  will  not  regret  it/  I  urged. 

"  '  I  will/  he  replied.  1 1  may  as  well  die 
for  one  thing  as  another.  If  he  were  shot  I 
should  hold  myself  responsible/  He  then  turned 
to  where  the  President  was  looking  over  the 
parapet. 

"  '  Mr.  President/  he  said,  '  you  are  standing 
within  range  of  five  hundred  rebel  rifles.  Please 
come  down  to  a  safer  place.  If  you  do  not  it 
will  be  my  duty  to  call  a  file  of  men  and  make 
you.' 

"  '  And  you  would  do  quite  right,  my  boy/ 
said  the  President,  coming  down  at  once ;  '  you 
are  in  command  of  this  fort,  and  I  should  be  the 
last  man  to  set  an  example  of  disobedience.'  " 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       1?5 

Sitting  for  his  Portrait — The  President  repeats  Pas- 
sages from  Shakespeare  and  other  Poets — "Why 
should  the  Spirit  of  Mortal  be  Proud  %  " 

That  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  best  educated- 
and  most  refined  men  who  ever  occupied  the  presi- 
dential office  is  proved  beyond  a  doubt  as  we  be- 
come better  acquainted  with  his  remarkable  life. 
This  is  the  more  to  be  wondered  at  because  he 
had  practically  no  schooling,  and  never  even  saw 
the  inside  of  a  college  until  after  he  had  become 
a  distinguished  lawyer. 

But  he  thirsted  after  knowledge.  He  never 
ceased  to  be  a  student;  and  even  while  President, 
with  all  the  terrible  burdens  of  war  resting 
upon  him,  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  where  Mr.  Joseph  Henry,  the 
superintendent,  found  him  one  of  his  most  appre- 
ciative and  interesting  callers. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  who  painted 
the  great  historic  picture,  Signing  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation,  during  the  year  1864,  was, 
for  six  months,  daily  at  the  White  House.  Among 
the  many  interesting  incidents  which  came  under 
his  observation  nothing  was  more  characteristic 
than  the  President's  great  fondness  for  poetry. 
At  one  sitting,  Lincoln  repeated  from  memory 
the  king's  soliloquy  from  Hamlet,  commencing 
with  the  line,  "  Oh,  my  offense  is  rank,  it  smells  to 
heaven." 


176  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

He  then  quoted  from  the  play  of  Richard  III 
the  soliloquy  and  other  lines,  showing  himself  fa- 
miliar with  these  and  other  works  of  the  "  bard 
of  Avon."  At  this  sitting,  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
Carpenter,  he  repeated  one  of  his  most  favorite 
poems,  which  through  Lincoln's  fondness  for  it 
has  become  famous.  It  is  given  herewith  for  its 
lofty  sentiment,  its  general  tone  of  sadness,  no 
less  than  the  beauty  of  its  thought;  the  simple 
directness  of  its  expression  illustrates  in  an  ad- 
mirable manner  the  character  of  the  great  martyr 
President. 

OH!    WHY    SHOULD    THE   SPIRIT    OF   MORTAL    BE 
PROUD? 

BY   WILLIAM   KNOX 

Oh !  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  1 
Like  a  swift-fleeting  meteor,  a  fast-flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave, 
He  passeth  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave. 

The  leaves  of  the  oak  and  the  willow  shall  fade, 
Be  scattered  around,  and  together  be  laid  ; 
And  the  young  and  the  old,  and  the  low  and  the  high, 
Shall  molder  to  dust,  and  together  shall  lie. 

The  infant  a  mother  attended  and  loved"; 
The  mother  that  infant's  affection  who  proved  ; 
The  husband,  that  mother  and  infant  who  blest — 
Each,  all,  are  away  to  their  dwellings  of  rest. 

The  hand  of  the  king  that  the  scepter  hath  borne, 
The  brow  of  the  priest  that  the  miter  has  worn, 
The  eye  of  the  sage,  and  the  heart  of  the  brave, 
Are  hidden  and  lost  in  the  depths  of  the  grave. 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        177 

The  peasant,  whose  lot  was  to  sow  and  to  reap, 
The  herdsman,  who  climbed  with  his  goats  up  the  steep, 
The  beggar,  who  wandered  in  search  of  his  bread, 
Have  faded  away  like  the  grass  that  we  tread. 

So  the  multitude  goes — like  the  flower  or  the  weed 
That  withers  away  to  let  others  succeed ; 
So  the  multitude  comes — even  those  we  behold, 
To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 

For  we  are  the  same  our  fathers  have  been ; 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen ; 
We  drink  the  same  stream,  we  view  the  same  sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 

The  thoughts  we  are  thinking,  our  fathers  would  think ; 
From  the  death  we  are  shrinking,  our  fathers  would  shrink ; 
To  the  life  we  are  clinging,  they  also  would  cling ; 
But  it  speeds  from  us  all  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

They  loved — but  the  story  we  can  not  unfold  ; 
They  scorned — but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is  cold ; 
They  grieved — but  no  wail  from  their  slumber  will  come ; 
They  joyed — but  the  tongue  of  their  gladness  is  dumb. 

Yea !  hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and  pain, 
Are  mingled  together  in  sunshine  and  rain ; 
And  the  smile  and  the  tear,  the  song  and  the  dirge, 
Still  follow  each  other,  like  surge  upon  surge. 

'Tis  a  wink  of  an  eye — 'tis  the  draught  of  a  breath — 
From  the  blossom  of  health  to  the  paleness  of  death. 
From  the  gilded  saloon  to  the  bier  and  the  shroud — 
Oh  !  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  I 

Upon  another  occasion  an  actor  who,  like 
many  others,  thought  the  President  merely  a  vul- 
gar ignoramus,  upon  being  introduced  to  Lincoln, 

was  astonished  at  his  great  knowledge  of  Shake- 
12 


178  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

speare's  plays,  and  at  his  ready  and  just  criticism 
of  Mr.  Hackett,  the  FalstafT  of  his  time,  of  whom 
the  President  said:  "  Hackett's  lack  of  informa- 
tion regarding  Shakespeare's  plays  caused  me  to 
doubt  that  he  had  ever  read  the  text."  The  actor 
found  the  President  a  better  Shakespearean 
scholar  than  himself,  and  afterward  thanked  his 
friend  for  permitting  him  to  know  the  President  as 
a  gentleman  and  a  scholar. 

Lincoln1  s   Angry  Reply   to   Joseph  Medill  and  his 
Chicago  Friends 

During  the  last  years  of  the  great  war  the 
tremendous  strain  and  worry  had  commenced  to 
undermine  the  health  of  the  President.  He 
passed  many  sleepless  nights  and  suffered  terribly, 
especially  during  the  awful  battles  which  caused 
so  much  loss  of  life  and  misery.  He  became  at 
times  almost  ill-tempered,  irritable  we  should  say, 
because  of  the  fearful  mental  strain  and  nervous 
exhaustion  consequent  upon  his  great  respon- 
sibilities. 

To  a  lady  whose  son's  life  he  had  saved,  and 
who  in  gratitude  exclaimed,  "  May  Heaven  bring 
you  reward  and  peace!  "  he  said,  with  bowed  head, 
as  though  his  burden  was  too  great  to  bear:  "I 
shall  never  know  peace  again." 

Of  this  period  of  worry  and  weariness  the  fol- 
lowing anecdote,  related  by  Miss  Ida  M.  Tarbell, 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        179 

in  her  most  interesting  articles  in  McClure's  Maga- 
zine, exhibits  the  Martyr  President  in  a  different 
but  none  the  less  human  and  interesting  aspect.* 

She  writes: 

"  The  late  Joseph  Medill,  the  editor  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune,  once  told  me  how  he  and  cer- 
tain leading  citizens  of  Chicago  went  to  Lincoln 
to  ask  that  the  quota  of  Cook  County  be  reduced. 

"  '  In  1864,  when  the  call  for  extra  troops 
came,  Chicago  revolted/  said  Mr.  Medill.  '  She 
had  already  sent  twenty-two  thousand  men  up  to 
that  time,  and  was  drained.  When  the  new  call 
came,  there  were  no  young  men  to  go — no  aliens 
except  what  were  bought.  The  citizens  held  a 
mass  meeting,  and  appointed  three  persons,  of 
whom  I  was  one,  to  go  to  Washington  and  ask 
Stanton  to  give  Cook  County  a  new  enrolment. 
I  begged  off;  but  the  committee  insisted,  so  I 
went.  On  reaching  Washington,  we  went  to  Stan- 
ton with  our  statement.  He  refused  entirely  to 
give  us  the  desired  aid.  Then  we  went  to  Lin- 
coln. "  I  can  not  do  it,"  he  said,  "  but  I  will  go 
with  you  to  Stanton  and  hear  the  arguments  of 
both  sides."  So  we  all  went  over  to  the  War  De- 
partment together.  Stanton  and  General  Fry 
were  there,  and  they,  of  course,  contended  that 


*  From   Miss  Tarbell's  Life  of   Lincoln,  by  permission  of 
McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.,  publishers. 


180  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

the  quota  should  not  be  changed.  The  argument 
went  on  for  some  time,  and  finally  was  referred 
to  Lincoln,  who  had  been  sitting  silently  listen- 
ing. I  shall  never  forget  how  he  suddenly  lifted 
his  head  and  turned  on  us  a  black  and  frowning 
face. 

"  i  "  Gentlemen/'  he  said,  in  a  voice  full  of  bit- 
terness, "  after  Boston,  Chicago  has  been  the  chief 
instrument  in  bringing  this  war  on  the  country. 
The  Northwest  has  opposed  the  South  as  New 
England  has  opposed  the  South.  It  was  you  who 
are  largely  responsible  for  making  blood  flow  as 
it  has.  You  called  for  war  until  we  had  it.  You 
called  for  emancipation,  and  I  have  given  it  to 
you.  Whatever  you  have  asked  you  have  had. 
Now  you  come  here  begging  to  be  let  off  from 
the  call  for  men  which  I  have  made  to  carry  out 
the  war  you  have  demanded.  You  ought  to  be 
ashamed  of  yourselves.  I  have  a  right  to  expect 
better  things  of  you.  Go  home  and  raise  your 
six  thousand  extra  men.  And  you,  Medill,  you 
are  acting  like  a  coward.  You  and  your  Tribune 
have  had  more  influence  than  any  paper  in  the 
Northwest  in  making  this  war.  You  can  influ- 
ence great  masses,  and  yet  you  cry  to  be  spared 
at  a  moment  when  your  cause  is  suffering.  Go 
home  and  send  us  those  men." 

"  '  I  couldn't  say  anything.  It  was  the  first 
time  I  ever  was  whipped,  and  I  didn't  have  an 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        1S1 

answer.  We  all  got  up  and  went  out,  and  when 
the  door  closed,  one  of  my  colleagues  said:  "  "Well, 
gentlemen,  the  old  man  is  right.  We  ought  to  be 
ashamed  of  ourselves.  Let  us  never  say  anything 
about  this,  but  go  home  and  raise  the  men."  And 
we  did — six  thousand  men — making  twenty-eight 
thousand  in  the  war  from  a  city  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-six  thousand.  But  there  might  have 
been  crape  on  every  door  almost  in  Chicago,  for 
every  family  had  lost  a  son  or  a  husband.  I  lost 
two  brothers.     It  was  hard  for  the  mothers.7  " 


CHAPTEK   XVI 

SHORT    STORIES,    IDEAS,    AND    QUOTATIONS 

Lincoln's  own  estimate  of  his  mental  powers — Sentence  of  Cal- 
houn's speech — General  Grant's  whisky — His  reply  to  a 
titled  applicant — Canvased  hams — The  jack-knife  story 
— Brigadiers  and  horses — Size  of  the  Confederate  Army — 
"  There's  one  of  my  children  isn't  dead  yet !  " — The  strict 
judge — "On  the  Lord's  side" — The  henpecked  husband — 
"  How  many  legs  will  a  sheep  have?" — The  three  pig- 
eons on  a  fence — "  Not  rebels,  but  Confederates." 

Mr.  Speed,  Lincoln's  old  Springfield  friend, 
says:  "  He  read  law,  history,  philosophy,  and 
poetry — Burns,  Byron,  Milton,  or  Shakespeare — 
and  the  newspapers,  retaining  them  all  about  as 
well  as  an  ordinary  man  would  any  one  of  them 
who  made  any  one  of  them  a  study.  I  once  re- 
marked to  him  that  his  mind  was  a  wonder  to  me; 
that  impressions  were  easily  made  upon  it  and 
never  effaced. 

"  '  No,'   said  he,   '  you   are  mistaken.       I   am 

slow  to   learn   and   slow   to   forget   that  which  I 

have  learned.      My  mind  is  like  a  piece  of  steel 

— very  hard  to  scratch  anything  on  it,  and  almost 

182 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        183 

impossible  after  you  get  it  there  to  rub  it 
out.'  " 

Mr.  Speed  added:  "  The  beauty  of  his  char- 
acter was  its  entire  simplicity.  He  had  no  affecta- 
tion in  anything." 

Lincoln  greatly  admired  a  sentence  from  Cal- 
houn's speech  replying  to  Mr.  Clay,  in  the  Sen- 
ate, in  which  Mr.  Clay  had  quoted  precedent: 
Mr.  Calhoun  replied  that  "to  legislate  upon  prece- 
dent is  to  make  the  error  of  yesterday  the  law  of 

to-day." 

General  Grant's  Whisky 

Just  after  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  a 
self-constituted  committee  of  prohibitionists  took 
it  upon  themselves  to  visit  the  President  and  urge 
the  removal  of  Grant.  The  President,  greatly 
surprised,  inquired  for  what  reason.  "  Why," 
replied  the  spokesman,  "  he  drinks  too  much 
whisky." 

"Ah!"  rejoined  Lincoln,  dropping  his  lower 
jaw;  "by  the  way,  gentlemen,  can  any  one  of 
you  tell  me  where  General  Grant  procures  his 
peculiar  whisky,  because  if  I  can  find  out  I  will 
send  every  general  in  the  field  a  barrel  of  it!  " 

Noble  Titles  no  Obstacle  to  Advancement 

Lincoln's  dry  humor  is  very  aptly  illustrated 
by  the  following:  During  the  latter  part  of  the 
war  a  former  lieutenant  in  a  foreign  army,  whose 


184  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

debts  had  compelled  him  to  leave  his  native  land, 
was  admitted  to  the  President  and  offered  his  serv- 
ices in  the  Union  Army.  Lincoln  accepted  the 
offer  and  promised  him  a  commission. 

The  young  man  was  so  elated  at  his  success 
that  he  could  not  resist  the  desire  to  exploit  his 
title  of  nobility,  and  said,  in  an  appropriately 
modest  and  deprecating  manner :  "  Mr.  President, 
in  my  own  country  my  family  is  noble,  and  I  bear 
a  title  of  very  ancient  nobility.     I " 

Mr.  Lincoln  here,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye, 
interrupted  in  a  friendly  and  reassuring  manner, 
saying: 

"  Oh,  never  mind  that;  you  will  find  that  to 
be  no  obstacle  to  your  advancement." 

Canvased  Hams 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  always  ready  to  laugh  at  the 
expense  of  his  own  person.  One  evening  at  the 
White  House  when  dressed  for  a  State  dinner, 
conversing  with  some  gentlemen,  he  held  up  his 
big,  long  hands,  encased  in  white  kid  gloves,  re- 
marking with  a  laugh:  "  One  of  my  Illinois 
friends  could  never  see  my  hands  in  this  pre- 
dicament   without    being    reminded    of    canvased 

hams!  " 

The  Jack-knife  Story 

He  used  to  tell  the  following  story  with 
great  glee: 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        185 

'"  In  the  days  when  I  nsed  to  be  on  the  cir- 
cuit, I  was  once  accosted  in  the  cars  by  a  stranger, 
who  said: 

"  '  Excuse  me,  sir,  but  I  have  an  article  which 
belongs  to  you.' 

"  '  How  is  that? '  I  asked,  considerably  aston- 
ished. 

"  The  stranger  took  a  jack-knife  from  his 
pocket. 

"  '  This  knife/  said  he,  '  was  placed  in  my 
hands  some  years  ago,  and  with  the  injunction 
that  I  was  to  keep  it  until  I  found  a  man  uglier- 
looking  than  myself.  I  have  carried  it  from  that 
time  to  this;  allow  me  now  to  say,  sir,  that  I  think 
you  are  fairly  entitled  to  the  property.'  " 

Brigadiers  and  Horses 

Of  a  juvenile  brigadier-general  who,  with  his 
horse,  had  been  captured  by  the  Confederates,  Lin- 
coln said  to  a  friend  who  brought  him  the  news: 

"  I  am  sorry  to  lose  the  horse." 

''  What  do  you  mean?"  inquired  his  friend. 

"  Why,  I  mean,"  replied  Lincoln,  "  that  I  can 
make  a  better  brigadier-general  any  day;  but 
those  horses  cost  the  Government  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  dollars  a  head." 

The  Size  of  the  Confederate  Army 
Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  war  a  gentleman 
asked  the  President  how  large  the   Confederate 


186  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Army  was,  and  to  his  great  astonishment  he  re- 
plied: "  The  Confederates  have  1,200,000  men  in 
the  field." 

"  Is  it  possible?"  inquired  the  man.  "And 
how  did  you  find  out?  " 

"  Why,"  said  Lincoln,  "  every  general  in  the 
Union  Army  whenever  he  gets  licked  says  the 
rebels  outnumbered  him  three  or  four  to  one; 
now  we  have  at  this  time  about  400,000  men, 
and  three  times  that  number  would  be  1,200,000, 
wouldn't  it?" 

"  There's  One  of  my  Children  isn't  Dead  yet ! " 

During  the  darkest  days  of  the  war  a  telegram 
was  received  by  Lincoln  from  Cumberland  Gap, 
stating  "  that  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction  of 
Knoxville." 

"  I'm  glad  of  it!  "  exclaimed  the  President. 

Some  one  present,  who  had  the  perils  of  Burn- 
side's  position  uppermost  in  his  mind,  asked: 

"  Why  are  you  glad  of  it,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent?" 

"  Why,  you  see,"  answered  Lincoln,  "  it  re- 
minds me  of  Mrs.  Sallie  Ward,  a  neighbor  of 
mine,  who  had  a  large  family;  occasionally  one 
of  her  numerous  progeny  would  be  heard  crying 
in  some  out-of-the-way  place,  upon  which  Mrs. 
Ward  would  exclaim:  '  Thank  the  Lord,  there's 
one  of  my  children  isn't  dead  yet ! '  " 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        187 

The  Strict  Judge 

In  conversation  with  a  member  of  his  Cabinet, 

Lincoln  said  he  knew  a  judge  who  once  said  he 

would  hang  a  man  for  blowing  his  nose  in  the 

street,  but  that  he  would  quash  the  indictment  if 

it  failed  to  specify  which  hand  was  used  in  the 

operation. 

"  On  the  Lord's  Side  " 

A  clergyman,  at  one  of  Lincoln's  receptions, 
closed  his  remarks  by  saying  he  "  hoped  the  Lord 
was  on  our  side." 

"  I  am  not  at  all  concerned  about  that,"  re- 
plied Lincoln,  "  for  I  know  the  Lord  is  always  on 
the  side  of  the  right.  But  it  is  my  constant  anx- 
iety and  prayer  that  I  and  this  nation  should  be 
on  the  Lord's  side." 

The  Henpecked  Husband 

"When  General  Phelps  took  possession  of  Ship 
Island,  near  New  Orleans,  early  in  the  war,  he 
issued  a  proclamation,  somewhat  bombastic  in 
tone,  freeing  the  slaves.  To  the  surprise  of  many 
persons  the  President  took  no  official  notice  of  it. 
Some  time  passed,  when  one  day  a  friend  took 
him  to  task  for  his  apparent  indifference  to  so  im- 
portant a  matter. 

"Well,"  said  Lincoln,  "I  feel  about  that  a 
good  deal  as  a  man  who  I  will  call  Jones,  whom 
I  once  knew,  did  about  his  wife.     He  was  one  of 


188  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

those  meek  men,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being 
henpecked.  At  last  one  day  his  wife  was  seen 
switching  him  out  of  the  house.  A  day  or  two 
afterward  a  friend  met  him  on  the  street,  and 
said: 

"  '  Jones,  I've  always  stood  up  for  you,  as  you 
know,  but  I  am  not  going  to  do  it  any  longer. 
Any  man  who  will  stand  quietly  and  take  a  switch- 
ing from  his  wife  deserves  to  be  horsewhipped.' 

"  Jones  looked  up  with  a  wink,  patting  his 
friend  on  the  back. 

"  '  Now,  don't,'  said  he.  '  Why,  it  didn't  hurt 
me  any,  and  you've  no  idea  what  a  power  of  good 
it  did  Sarah  Ann!  '" 

"  How  many  Legs  will  a  Sheep  have  % " 

About  the  time  the  question  of  emancipation 
was  being  agitated,  and  previous  to  the  time  when 
the  President  considered  it  wise  or  practicable,  a 
deputation  one  day  waited  upon  him  urging  that 
he  should  issue  a  proclamation  at  once  declaring 
freedom  to  all  the  slaves  in  the  States  then  fighting 
against  the  Union. 

In  reply,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

"  If  I  issue  a  proclamation  now,  as  you  sug- 
gest, it  will  be  as  ineffectual  as  was  the  Pope's 
celebrated  bull  against  the  comet.  It  can  not  be 
enforced. 

"  Now,    by   way    of   illustration,"    he    added, 


SEVENTH   PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        189 

"  how  many  legs  will  a  sheep  have  if  you  call  his 
tail  a  leg?" 

They  answered   "  Five." 

"  You  are  mistaken,"  replied  Lincoln,  "  for 
calling  a  tail  a  leg  does  not  make  it  so." 

With  this  simple  illustration  he  showed  them 
the  fallacy  of  their  position  better  than  any 
learned  syllogism  would  have  done. 

Three  Pigeons  on  a  Fence 

Upon  another  occasion,  when  Lincoln  wished  to 
impress  upon  a  delegation  the  need  of  great  pa- 
tience and  care,  lest  by  hasty  action  some  of  the 
border  slave-States,  like  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
Missouri,  might  be  influenced  to  join  the  seces- 
sion movement,  he  said: 

"  If  there  be  three  pigeons  on  a  fence  and 
you  fire  and  kill  one,  how  many  will  there  be 
left?" 

They  replied  "  Two." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  he,  "  there  would  be  none  left; 
for  the  other  two,  frightened  by  the  shot,  would 
have  flown  away." 

Not  Rebels,  but  Confederates 

Dr.  Jerome  Walker,  of  Brooklyn,  relates  that 
just  one  week  before  the  President's  assassination 
he  escorted  him  through  the  various  hospitals  in 
Washington.      After  visiting  the  wounded  Union 


190  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

soldiers,  they  came  to  those  wards  where  the  sick 
and  wounded  Southern  prisoners  were,  and  he 
said: 

"  Mr.  President,  you  won't  want  to  go  in 
there;  they  are  only  rebels." 

Lincoln  stopped,  and,  laying  his  hands  upon 
Dr.  Walker's  shoulders,  said: 

"  You  mean  Confederates" 

He  thereupon  went  through  all  the  Confed- 
erate wards,  paying  as  much  attention  and  speak- 
ing as  kindly  to  them  as  he  had  to  the  Federal 
soldiers. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

The  President  relieves  the  fears  of  the  Secretary  of  War  by  an 
illustration — "By  Jingo!  Butler  or  no  Butler,  here  goes" 
— He  tells  General  Grant  some  stories — Gives  freedom  to 
many  imprisoned  for  resisting  the  draft — The  Gettysburg 
address. 

The  Complaining  Governor  and  the  Squealing  Boy 

One  of  the  Northern  governors  who  was  a 
very  earnest  and  able  supporter  of  the  Union 
cause,  and  who  was  untiring  in  raising  troops  and 
keeping  up  the  war  spirit,  was  fond  of  having  his 
own  way,  and  did  not  like  to  conform  to  the  gen- 
eral military  system  which  had  become  necessary 
to  the  army. 

On  one  occasion  he  complained  more  bitterly 
than  usual,  and  in  a  long  letter  warned  the  au- 
thorities at  Washington  "  that  the  execution  of 
the  Government  military  orders  in  his  State  would 
be  beset  with  difficulties  and  dangers." 

The  tone  of  the  despatches  gave  rise  to  fear 
that  the  Governor  might  not  fully  cooperate  in  the 
important  military  movements  then  under  way, 
and  Stanton,  the  Secretary  of  War,  being  greatly 
troubled,  laid  them  before  the  President  for  ad- 
vice and  instruction. 

191 


192  LINCOLN   IN  STORY 

Lincoln,  when  he  read  them,  was  not  disturbed 
in  the  least.     In  fact  they  rather  amused  him. 

After  having  read  all  the  papers,  he  said,  in  a 
cheerful  tone:  "Never  mind,  never  mind;  those 
despatches  don't  mean  anything.  Just  go  right 
ahead." 

"  The  Governor  is  like  a  boy  I  saw  once  at 
a  launching.  When  everything  was  ready,  they 
picked  out  a  small  boy  and  sent  him  under  the 
ship  to  knock  away  the  trigger,  and  let  her  go. 
At  the  critical  moment  everything  depended  on 
the  boy.  He  had  to  do  the  job  well  by  a  direct 
and  vigorous  blow,  and  then  lie  down  flat  and 
keep  still,  while  the  ship  slid  over  him. 

"  The  boy  did  everything  right,  but  yelled  as 
if  he  was  being  murdered  from  the  time  he  got 
under  the  keel  until  he  got  out.  I  thought  the 
hide  was  all  scraped  off  his  back;  but  he  wasn't 
hurt  at  all. 

"  The  master  of  the  shipyard  told  me  that  this 
boy  was  always  chosen  for  that  job,  that  he  did 
his  work  well,  that  he  never  had  been  hurt,  but 
that  he  always  squealed  in  that  way.     Now,  that's 

the  way  with  Governor ;  make  up  your  mind 

that  he  is  not  hurt,  and  that  he  is  doing  the  work 
all  right,  and  pay  no  attention  to  his  squealing. 
He  only  wants  to  make  you  understand  how  hard 
his  task  is,  and  that  he  is  on  hand  performing  it." 

The  same  Governor's  loyalty  and  zeal  in  the 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       193 

Union  cause,  as  time  went  on,  proved  exactly  as 
the  President  had  predicted,  and  the  Secretary's 
fears  were  thus  proved  to  be  unnecessary. 

"  By  Jingo  I  Butler  or  no  Butler,  here  goes  " 

One  morning  a  Congressman  went  up  to  the 
"White  House  on  business,  and  saw  in  the  ante- 
room an  old  man  crouched  all  alone  in  a  corner, 
crying  as  if  his  heart  would  break. 

This  was  so  common  an  occurrence  that  he 
paid  no  attention  to  it;  but  on  going  again  the 
next  day  on  business,  he  saw  the  same  man  crying, 
and  stopped,  saying  to  him,  "  What's  the  matter 
with  you,  my  man?  " 

The  man,  in  answer,  told  him  the  story  of  his 
son  who  had  been  convicted  by  a  court-martial  in 
Butler's  army  and  sentenced  to  be  shot  the  next 
week. 

He  said  also :  "  Our  Congressman  is  so  con- 
vinced of  his  guilt  that  he  will  not  help  or  in- 
terfere." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  A- ,  "  I  will  take  you  into 

the  President's  office  after  I  get  through,  and  you 
can  tell  Mr.  Lincoln  all  about  it." 

When  Mr.  A entered  and  introduced  this 

man,  Mr.  Lincoln  said :  "  Well,  my  old  friend, 
what  can  I  do  for  you?  " 

The  man  then  repeated  the  story  he  had  told 

to  Mr.  A . 

13 


194  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

While  lie  was  speaking  the  President's  face 
became  sad  and  serious  as  he  replied: 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  can  do  nothing  for  you. 
Listen  to  this  telegram  received  from  General 
Butler  yesterday.'7 

The  President  then  read  the  following: 

"Me.  President:  I  pray  you  not  to  interfere 
with  the  court-martial  of  this  army.  You  will 
destroy  all  discipline  among  the  soldiers. 

"  [Signed.]  B.  F.  Butler." 

As  the  President  read  these  words,  they 
seemed  like  a  death-knell  to  the  poor  boy,  and 
the  old  man's  anguish  and  despair  mastered  him 
so  completely  that  he  burst  into  sobs  which  shook 
his  whole  body.  His  grief  affected  Lincoln  very 
deeply,  and  after  a  minute's  struggle  with  him- 
self, he  exclaimed: 

"  By  Jingo !  Butler  or  no  Butler,  here  goes." 

He  took  the  pen,  and  writing  a  few  words, 
handed  them  to  the  man. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  exclamation  led  the  applicant  to 
think  he  had  written  an  order  for  his  son's  release, 
so,  when  he  read  the  President's  order  as  follows: 

"  Job  Smith  is  not  to  be  shot  until  further 
orders  from  me.  Abraham  Lincoln." 

he    said:    "  Why,    Mr.    President,    I    thought    it 
was  to  be  a  pardon;  but  you  say,  '  Not  to  be  shot 


SEVENTH  PEEIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT        195 

till  further  orders/  and  you  may  order  him  to  be 
shot  next  week!  " 

Lincoln  smiled  at  the  man's  fears,  and  re- 
plied: 

"  Well,  my  old  friend,  I  see  you  are  not  very 
well  acquainted  with  me.  If  your  son  never  looks 
on  death  till  further  orders  from  me  to  shoot 
him,  he  will  live  to  be  a  great  deal  older  than 
Methuselah." 

The  man  now  understood  the  President's 
kindly  intention  to  pardon  his  son,  as  soon  as  he 
could  without  offending  the  general,  and  went 
away  happy  and  grateful. 

Lincoln  tells  General  Grant  a  Funny  Story 

A  short  time  before  the  final  surrender  of  the 
Confederates,  General  Grant  told  the  President 
that  the  war  must  soon  come  to  an  end,  and  asked 
him  whether  he  should  try  to  capture  Jefferson 
Davis,  the  Confederate  President,  or  let  him 
escape  from  the  country. 

Lincoln  said:  "  That  reminds  me  of  a  story. 

"  There  was  once  an  Irishman  who  had  signed 
the  Father  Mathews  temperance  pledge.  A  few 
days  after,  he  became  terribly  thirsty,  and  finally 
applied  to  a  bartender  in  a  saloon  for  a  glass  of 
lemonade,  and  while  it  was  being  mixed  he  leaned 
over  and  whispered  to  him,  '  And  couldn't  ye  put 
a  little  brandy  in  it,  all  unbeknownst  to  meself  ? ' 


196  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

Tie  then  said :  "  Let  Davis  escape  all  unbe- 
known to  yourself  if  you  can." 

Lincoln  gives  Freedom  to  the  Men  in  Pennsylvania 
Imprisoned  for  resisting  the  Draft 

Mr.  Joshua  R.  Speed,  the  tried  and  true  friend 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  while  residing  in  Springfield,  111., 
gives  the  following  account  of  his  last  interview 
with  the  President,  which  occurred  in  Washington 
about  ten  days  prior  to  his  second  inaugura- 
tion: 

"  Congress  was  drawing  to  a  close;  the  Presi- 
dent had  to  give  much  attention  to  bills  he  was 
about  to  sign.  The  great  war  was  at  its  height; 
visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  country  were  com- 
ing and  going  to  the  President,  with  their  com- 
plaints and  grievances,  from  morning  until  night, 
with  almost  as  much  regularity  as  the  ebb  and 
flow  of  the  tide,  and  he  was  worn  down  in  health 
and  spirit. 

"  On  this  day,,  when  I  entered  the  room,  I 
noticed,  sitting  near  the  fireplace,  dressed  in  hum- 
ble attire,  two  ladies  modestly  waiting  their  turn. 
One  after  another  the  visitors  came  and  went,  some 
satisfied,  others  displeased,  at  the  result  of  their 
mission.  The  hour  had  arrived  to  close  the  door 
against  all  further  callers. 

"  'No  one  was  left  in  the  room  except  the 
President,  the  two  ladies,   and  myself.     With  a 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE  PRESIDENT       197 

rather  peevish  and  fretful  air  he  turned  to  them 
and  said:  '  Well,  ladies,  what  can  I  do  for  you? ' 

"  They  both  commenced  speaking  at  once. 

"  From  what  they  said,  he  soon  learned  that 
one  was  the  wife  and  the  other  was  the  mother 
of  men  who  had  resisted  the  draft  in  western 
Pennsylvania. 

"  '  Stop,'  said  he,  '  don't  say  any  more.  Give 
me  your  petition.' 

"  The  old  lady  responded :  i  Mr.  Lincoln,  we've 
got  no  petition,  we  couldn't  write  one,  and  had 
no  money  to  pay  for  writing  it,  and  I  thought 
best  to  come  to  see  you.' 

"  '  Oh!  '  said  he,  '  I  understand  your  cases.' 

"  He  rang  his  bell  and  ordered  one  of  the  mes- 
sengers to  tell  General  Dana  to  bring  him  the 
names  of  all  the  men  in  prison  for  resisting  the 
draft  in  western  Pennsylvania. 

"  The  general  soon  came  with  the  list. 

"  Lincoln  then  inquired  if  there  was  any  differ- 
ence in  the  charges  or  degrees  of  guilt. 

"  The  general  replied  that  he  knew  of  none. 

"  '  Well,  then,'  said  the  President,  '  these  fel- 
lows have  suffered  long  enough,  and  I  have 
thought  so  for  some  time,  and  now  that  my  mind 
is  on  the  subject,  I  believe  I  will  turn  out  the 
whole  flock.  So  draw  up  the  order,  general,  and 
I  will  sign  it.' 

"  It  was  done,  and  the  general  left  the  room. 


198  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  Turning  to  the  women,  Lincoln  said :  l  Now, 
ladies,  you  can  go.' 

"  The  younger  of  the  two  ran  forward  and 
was  in  the  act  of  kneeling  in  thankfulness. 

"  '  Get  up/  he  said,  i  don't  kneel  to  me,  but 
thank  God  and  go.' 

"  The  old  lady  now  came  forward  with  tears 
in  her  eyes  to  express  her  gratitude.  -  Good-by, 
Mr.  Lincoln,'  said  she.  '  I  shall  probably  never 
see  you  again  till  we  meet  in  heaven.' 

"  These  were  her  exact  words.  She  had  the 
President's  hand  in  hers,  and  he  was  deeply 
moved. 

"  He  instantly  took  her  right  hand  in  both  of 
his  own,  and,  following  her  to  the  door,  said:  'I 
am  afraid,  with  all  my  troubles,  I  shall  never 
get  to  the  resting-place  you  speak  of,  but  if  I  do, 
I  am  sure  I  shall  find  you.  That  you  wish  me  to 
get  there  is,  I  believe, .  the  best  wish  you  could 
make  for  me.     Good-by.' 

"  We  were  now  alone.  I  said  to  him :  l  Lin- 
coln, with  my  knowledge  of  your  nervous  sensi- 
bility, it  is  a  wonder  that  such  scenes  as  this  don't 
kill  you.' 

"  He  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then  answered 
in  a  languid  voice :  i  Yes,  you  are  to  a  certain 
degree  right.  I  ought  not  to  undergo  what  I  so 
often  do.  I  am  very  unwell  now;  my  feet  and 
hands  of  late  seem  to  be  always  cold,  and  I  ought, 


SEVENTH  PERIOD:    THE   PRESIDENT        199 

perhaps,  to  be  in  bed.  But  things  of  this  sort 
you  have  just  seen  don't  hurt  me,  for,  to  tell  you 
the  truth,  that  scene  is  the  only  thing  to-day  that 
has  made  me  forget  my  condition,  or  given  me 
any  pleasure.  I  have  in  that  order  made  two  peo- 
ple happy  and  alleviated  the  distress  of  many  a 
poor  soul  whom  I  never  expect  to  see.  That  old 
lady,'  he  continued,  '  was  no  counterfeit.  The 
mother  spoke  out  in  all  the  features  of  her  face. 
It  is  more  than  one  can  often  say,  that  in  doing- 
right  one  has  made  two  people  happy  in  one  day. 
"  '  Speed,  die  when  I  may,  I  want  it  said  of  me 
by  those  who  knoiv  me  best,  that  I  always  plucked 
a  thistle  and  planted  a  flower  when  I  thought  a 
flower  would  grow.'  " 

Lincoln's  Address  at  Gettysburg,  November  19,  1863 

"  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers 
brought  forth  upon  this  continent  a  new  nation, 
conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  propo- 
sition that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

"  Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war  test- 
ing whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation,  so  con- 
ceived and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are 
met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war.  We  have 
come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field,  as  a  final 
resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives 
that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fit- 
ting and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 


200  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  But  in  a  larger  sense  we  can  not  dedicate — 
we  can  not  consecrate — we  can  not  hallow — this 
ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who 
struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our 
power  to  add  or  detract. 

"  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remem- 
ber, what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what 
they  did  here.  It  is  for  us  the  living,  rather,  to  be 
dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished  work  which  they 
who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced. 
It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great 
task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause 
for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  de- 
votion— that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead 
shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  this  nation,  under 
God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom — and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth" 


LINCOLN'S  TRIUMPH 

(1865) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

His  second  inauguration— The  President  at  Petersburg  is  mis- 
taken for  a  rebel — The  Confederate  Government  destroyed 
— Lincoln  enters  Richmond  amid  demonstrations  of  great 
joy  from  emancipated  slaves — General  Pickett's  wife  and 
the  President — Lincoln's  last  official  act  was  to  save  a  life 
— His  assassination — His  Code  of  War  adopted  at  the 
Peace  Conference  at  The  Hague. 

On  March  4,  1865,  Lincoln  was  inaugurated 
the  second  time.  In  his  address  the  following 
paragraph  occurred : 

"  With  malice  toward  none ;  with  charity  for 
all;  with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to 
see  the  right,  let  us  strive  to  finish  the  work  we 
are  in;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds;  to  care 
for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for 
his  widow  and  his  orphan;  to  do  all  which  may 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among 
ourselves,  and  with  all  nations. " 

The  lofty  and  sublime  thought  here  expressed 
exercised  a  powerful  and  healing  influence  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people,  which  survived  even  the 

201 


202  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

terrible    shock    of    the    President's    assassination 
which  followed  so  soon  afterward. 

Lincoln  impersonates  a  Virginian   Tobacco   Owner 
and  is  called  a  Rebel  by  a  Union  Officer 

Dr.  J.  E.  Burriss,  of  New  York,  who  was  serv- 
ing as  a  soldier  in  the  Union  Army  and  was  a  par- 
ticipant in  the  taking  of  Petersburg,  related  to  the 
writer  the  following  incident  which  illustrates  the 
great  President's  appreciation  of  the  humorous 
and  his  willingness  to  take  or  make  a  joke: 

"  When  the  advance  of  the  Union  Army  en- 
tered Petersburg,  guards  were  at  once  placed 
about  the  public  buildings  and  tobacco  ware- 
houses. We  boys,  many  of  us,  wanted  tobacco, 
and  when  we  came  upon  a  large  warehouse,  near 
which  we  halted,  a  grand  rush  for  the  place  was 
made.  But  there  we  met  the  guards  with  c  strict 
orders  '  not  to  permit  any  foraging. 

"  There  was  a  general  protest,   some  saying, 

"  '  We  deserve  all  we  can  take,  after  fighting 
and  marching  so  many  days.' 

"  Finally,  grumbling  groups  of  soldiers  formed 
and  talked  the  matter  over  with  considerable  re- 
sentment at  the  commanding  general  for  his  pro- 
tection of  the  enemy's  property.  '  To  the  victors 
belong  the  spoils  '  was  the  general  cry. 

"  While  we  were  thus  considering  c  ways  and 
means  '  of  getting  at  their  tobacco,   and  cursing 


LINCOLN'S  TRIUMPH  203 

the  commanding  general,  one  of  us  spied  an 
elderly  man  standing  some  distance  off.  He  wore 
a  slouch  hat,  and  his  brown,  sunburned  face  and 
general  appearance  suggested  to  the  soldier  that  he 
was  a  Southerner.  Suddenly  a  soldier  exclaimed: 
6  Let's  go  over  and  see  that  old  fellar.  Perhaps  he 
owns  the  warehouse!  ' 

"  So  a  delegation  approached  the  '  old  Vir- 
ginian,' as  they  supposed,  and  the  spokesman  ac- 
costed him  thus: 

"  '  Say,  do  you  own  that  tobacco  warehouse? ' 

"  The  '  old  fellar,'  with  a  smile  and  twinkle  in 
his  eyes,  remembered  long  afterward,  said  slowly 
and  with  a  sort  of  drawl: 

"  '  Well,  perhaps  I  do,  boys.  "Why  do  you 
want  to  know? ' 

"  '  Well,  you  see,  we've  been  a-fighting  and 
marching,  and  we're  hungry  for  some  tobacco, 
and  the  blamed  guard  won't  let  us  have  a  single 
chew.' 

"  '  That  does  appear  to  be  rather  rough,  I 
reckon.  It's  a  shame,'  answered  the  old  fellar, 
sympathetically. 

"  Thus  encouraged,  several  flocked  around  him 
and  asked  if  he  would  give  us  some. 

''  The  old  '  Southerner  '  quietly  walked  over 
to  the  entrance  and  asked  the  guard:  '  May  I  see 
the  officer  in  command,  please?' 

"  Upon  this  a  young  lieutenant  with   a  bril- 


204  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

liant  new  uniform  pompously  strode  forward.  To 
the  request  of  the  '  farmer ?  the  young  officer 
brusquely  answered: 

"  '  Who  are  you?  Do  you  own  this  ware- 
house ? ' 

"  With  a  sudden  look  of  surprise  and  pain  at 
the  officer's  manner,  the  '  Southerner  '  said : 

"  '  Will  you  please  call  your  superior  officer? ' 

"  i  Not  for  any rebel  son  of  a \  re- 
plied the  lieutenant,  almost  bursting  with  his  own 
importance. 

"  At  this,  the  i  rebel '  took  out  a  notebook,  and 
writing  hastily,  asked  if  there  was  an  orderly  with 
a  horse  to  be  had;  and  one  of  the  men,  all  of 
whom  were  ashamed  of  the  lieutenant,  came  for- 
ward and  volunteered  to  deliver  the  note,  which 
was  addressed  to  General  U.  S.  Grant. 

"  In  a  few  minutes  General  Grant,  covered 
with  dust,  came  galloping  up  in  great  haste.  He 
sprang  from  his  horse  and,  grasping  the  hand  of 
the  c  old  rebel/  exclaimed : 

"  '  Mr.  President,  how  can  I  serve  you  ? ' 

"  The  lieutenant  now  became  pale,  and  trem- 
bled with  fear,  while  the  soldiers  sent  up  a  shout; 
as  the  news  spread,  cheering  could  be  heard 
among  the  crowds  in  the  distance.  Approaching 
the  President,  the  abashed  young  officer  stam- 
mered an  apology,   expecting  instant  dismissal. 

"Lincoln,   with   some   severity,   said   to   him: 


LINCOLN'S  TRIUMPH  205 

'  Young  man,  don't  always  judge  by  appearances. 
And  treat  your  elders  with  more  respect  in  the  fu- 
ture.' The  boys  were  then  given  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  tobacco  to  satisfy  their  desires  for  some  time." 

Lincoln  enters  Richmond  amid  the  Wildest  Enthu- 
siasm of  the  Colored  People 

A  few  weeks  after  the  inauguration,  General 
Grant's  stubborn  campaign  against  the  Confed- 
erate Army  around  Richmond  culminated  in  the 
great  battle  of  Five  Forks,  Ya.,  and  on  April  2d 
Richmond,  the  Capital  of  the  Confederacy,  was 
evacuated  by  the  Confederate  Army.  The  Na- 
tional troops  found  the  city  in  flames  and  used 
every  effort  to  extinguish  them. 

On  April  9th  General  Lee  surrendered  the 
last  of  the  Confederate  armies  at  Appomattox. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  with  members  of  his  Cabinet  and 
some  friends,  on  the  10th  of  April  visited  Rich- 
mond, and  walking  like  a  simple  citizen  through 
the  streets,  was  given  an  enthusiastic  welcome  by 
the  colored  people,  who  had  received  their  free- 
dom from  slavery  at  his  hands. 

Such  demonstrations  of  delight,  such  shouting 
and  hurrahs  by  these  colored  people,  whose  mas- 
ters had  fled  from  the  city,  was  indeed  a  most 
uncommon  sight. 

Many  rushed  forward  to  shake  his  hand,  some 
to  kneel  at  his  feet,  while  others,  with  tears  stream- 


206  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

ing  from  their  eyes,  shouted,  "  Glory,  Hallelujah! 
the  Day  of  Freedom  is  come!  " 

Mr.  Lincoln's  entrance  into  the  enemy's 
ruined  Capital  was  most  unique,  and  unlike  any 
other  conqueror  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

Without  any  parade  or  display,  with  but  a 
squad  of  soldiers  to  accompany  him,  he  quietly 
walked  through  the  streets,  filled  with  a  feeling 
of  pity  and  charity  for  his  enemies,  joy  at  the 
thought  that  the  war  was  over,  and  gratitude 
that  he  had  been  permitted  to  carry  out  what  he 
considered  to  be  the  will  of  Almighty  God,  not 
only  in  restoring  the  Union,  but  also  in  abolish- 
ing slavery. 

There  was  an  utter  lack  of  pomp  or  cere- 
mony such  as  on  former  historical  occasions 
have  characterized  the  triumphal  entrances  of 
great  rulers  and  military  heroes.  One  needs  but 
to  recall  Napoleon  Bonaparte's  pompous  entry 
into  Berlin  in  1806,  and  the  galling  humiliation 
to  the  Prussians  it  occasioned;  or  the  more  recent 
triumphal  and  brilliant,  though  less  aggravating, 
appearance  of  Kaiser  Wilhelm  and  Bismarck  with 
the  German  Army,  at  the  close  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War,  in  Paris,  to  observe  the  great  dif- 
ference. 

But  in  Lincoln's  great  soul  there  was  no  room 
for  feelings  of  revenge  or  malice,  and  while  there 
is  scarcely  a  doubt  that  he  was  exalted  and  thrilled 


LINCOLN'S  TRIUMPH  207 

with  the  glory  of  the  triumph  of  the  Union  cause, 
he  felt  keenly  for  the  sorrows  and  sufferings  of 
the  Confederates. 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald 
of  April  11 ,  1865,  describing  Lincoln's  arrival  at 
Richmond,  wrote : 

"  There  was  the  wildest  enthusiasm  on  the  part 
of  the  inhabitants,  white  and  black;  the  whole 
population  seemed  to  pour  into  the  street.  The 
blacks  were  exceedingly  demonstrative,  greeting 
him  as  a  second  Messiah;  some  falling  on  their 
knees  in  the  street  and,  with  uplifted  hands,  thank- 
ing God  that  they  had  been  permitted  to  see  the 
man  who  had  delivered  them  from  bondage." 

The  New  York  Tribune  of  the  8th  said: 

"  Crowds  rushed  out  for  a  glimpse  of  the  tall 
figure  as  he  walked  into  the  city  attended  by  a 
few  friends  and  a  score  or  two  of  soldiers.  The 
joy  of  the  negro  knew  no  bounds.  It  found  ex- 
pression in  whoops,  in  contortions,  in  tears,  and 
incessantly  in  prayerful  ejaculations  of  thanks." 

General    Piclcetfs    Wife   and   Lincoln — Lincoln   the 
True  Friend  of  the  South 

In  the  memoirs  of  General  George  Edward 
Pickett,  Mrs.  Pickett  relates  an  interesting  inci- 
dent which  occurred  at  Richmond  after  it  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Union  Army  and 
during  the  President's  visit. 


208 


LINCOLN  IN  STORY 


It    appears   that   Pickett's    appointment   to    a 
cadetship  at  West  Point  was  partly  owing  to  Lin- 
coln's efforts,  and  Mrs.  Pickett  quotes  several  ex- 
tracts from  letters  written  by 
the  kind-hearted  friend  to  the 
young  cadet. 

In  one  of  them  he  writes: 

"  Now,  boy,  in  your  struggle 

for   existence,    don't   you   go 

and  forget  the  old  maxim  that 

'  one   drop   of  honey  catches 

more  flies  than  half  a  gallon 

of  gall.'     Load  your  musket 

with  this  maxim  and  smoke  it 

in    your    pipe."      When    the 

President  went  to  Richmond,  Mrs.  Pickett  came  to 

him  with  her  little  child  in  her  arms.     The  lady 

thus  describes  the  incident: 

"  '  I  am  George  Pickett's  wife,'  I  said. 
"  i  And  I  am  Abraham  Lincoln.' 
"'The  President?' 

"  '  No,  Abraham  Lincoln.  George's  old 
friend.' 

"  Then  Lincoln  took  the  child  and  kissed  it, 
and  said  in  that  deep  and  sympathetic  voice  which 
was  one  of  his  greatest  powers  over  the  hearts 
of  men:  i  Tell  your  father,  rascal,  that  I  forgive 
him  for  the  sake  of  your  mother's  smile  and  your 
bright  eyes.'  " 


LINCOLN'S  ASSASSINATION  209 

Mrs.  Pickett  says  that  her  husband's  reverence 
for  President  Lincoln  was  intense.  When  the 
tragic  message  of  his  assassination  reached  Gen- 
eral Pickett,  he  cried: 

"  My  God!  my  God!  The  South  has  lost  her 
best  friend  and  protector;  the  surest,  safest  hand 
to  guide  and  steer  her  through  the  breakers 
ahead." 

The  Assassijiation  and  Death  of  the  President 

On  the  14th  of  April,  in  accordance  with  Mr. 
Lincoln's  wishes,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  again 
raised  over  Fort  Sumter  with  firing  of  cannon 
and  appropriate  ceremonies.  It  was  there  that 
the  war  had  begun,  just  four  years  before,  and 
this  was  to  indicate  to  the  world  that  the  war  was 
ended. 

The  President,  happy  at  the  great  results 
which  he  had  been  able  to  accomplish  for  the 
Union  and  humanity,  yielded  to  his  wife's  request 
to  attend  the  theatre  in  the  evening.  Throughout 
the  North  there  was  great  rejoicing,  and,  in  every 
large  city,  processions  during  the  day  and  fire- 
works at  night  gave  expression  to  the  feelings  of 
thankfulness.  Everywhere  throughout  the  Union 
Lincoln's  name  was  greeted  with  loud  cheers. 

The  President,  in   the   evening  of  this  most 

eventful    day,    accompanied    his    family    to    the 

theatre,  arriving  a  little  after  nine  o'clock.     The 
14 


210 


LINCOLN  IN  STORY 


large  audience  arose  and  greeted  him  with  rousing 
cheers.  About  ten  o'clock  a  man  by  the  name  of 
J.  Wilkes  Booth  entered  the  box  where  the  Presi- 
dent was  sitting,  and,  drawing  a  pistol,  fired  at 
him,  the  ball  lodging  in  his  head.  The  President, 
without  a  groan  or  cry  of  any  kind,  sank  to  the 
floor,  while  the  murderer  jumped  out  of  the  box 
on  to  the  stage,  and,  running  across  it,  escaped  to 
the  street,  where  he  sprang  upon  a  horse  and  fled. 

Lincoln  was  borne  into  a 
house  near  by  and  died 
at  half-past  seven  the 
next  morning. 

After  the  shooting  in 
the  theatre  the  great  au- 
dience arose  and  gave 
one  cry  of  horror.  The 
play  was  stopped,  and 
the  audience  dismissed. 
The  news  of  Lincoln's 
death  caused  most  in- 
tense sorrow,  not  only 
throughout  the  Union, 
but  all  over  the  world. 
He  was  mourned  by  millions  in  the  North  as 
though  he  had  been  their  own  father.  Strong 
men,  hearing  of  his  death,  wept  like  children, 
and  the  heart  of  the  entire  nation  seemed 
bursting    with     grief.      In    Europe,     kings     and 


House  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
died. 


LINCOLN'S  LAST  OFFICIAL  ACT  211 

princes,  as  well  as  the  masses  of  the  people,  joined 
in  the  most  tender  expressions  of  sorrow,  and  it 
seemed  that  the  heart  of  humanity  itself  was  torn 
with  grief,  while  sobbings  were  heard  throughout 
the  civilized  world.  The  gentle  and  loving  cham- 
pion of  human  rights  and  liberty,  was  dead,  and 
his  soul  ascended  to  heaven  amid  such  a  wail  of 
sorrow  as  had  never  before  been  heard.  The  his- 
tory of  the  world  furnishes  no  such  example  of 
universal  mourning,  because  Lincoln  not  only 
loved  and  suffered  for  mankind,  but  he  was 
"  An  honest  man,  the  noblest  work  of  God." 

Lincoln's  Last  Official  Act  was  to  save  a  Life 

The  last  official  act  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
to  sign  a  paper  to  let  a  man  live  who  was  con- 
demned to  die.  An  hour  later  Lincoln  was  him- 
self dying;  the  man  whose  life  he  saved  lived 
nearly  thirty-five  years  longer.  He  was  George 
E.  Vaughn,  who  died  in  Maryville,  Mo.,  in  1899. 

Before  the  war  Vaughn,  with  his  wife  and 
children,  lived  in  Canton,  Mo.  He  was  a  friend 
of  Martin  E.  Green,  a  brother  of  United  States 
Senator  James  S.  Green,  both  strong  pro-slavery 
men.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  Martin  E.  Green 
recruited  a  regiment  and  received  a  colonel's 
commission  from  the  Confederate  Government. 
George  Vaughn  enlisted  under  Green's  command 
and  fought  through  the  war. 


212  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

After  a  period  of  fighting,  Green  and  Vaughn 
crossed  into  Mississippi  from  Tennessee,  camping 
at  Tupelo,  Miss.  Not  having  heard  from  his 
family,  Green  was  anxious  to  hear  from  his  old 
home,  so  he  delegated  Vaughn  to  go  on  the  mis- 
sion of  delivering  letters  to  his  wife. 

Vaughn  had  almost  completed  his  trip,  having 
reached  La  Grange,  six  miles  south  of  Canton, 
when  he  was  captured  by  a  squad  of  Federal 
troops. 

They  searched  his  person,  and,  finding  letters 
and  papers  concealed  about  him,  he  was  tried  as 
a  spy  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  John  B.  Hender- 
son, Senator  from  Missouri,  finally  succeeded  in 
getting  an  order  from  the  President  for  a  retrial, 
but  the  verdict  remained  as  hitherto.  Again  Hen- 
derson appealed  to  Lincoln,  who  granted  a  third 
trial,  with  the  same  result. 

Henderson  was  not  disconcerted,  and  again 
went  to  Lincoln.  It  was  on  the  afternoon  of 
April  14,  1865 — a  melancholy  date — that  the 
Senator  called  at  the  White  House.  He  called 
the  attention  of  Lincoln  to  the  fact  that  the  war 
was  practically  closed,  and  said :  "  Mr.  Lincoln, 
this  pardon  should  be  granted  in  the  interest  of 
peace  and  conciliation." 

Mr.  Lincoln  replied:  "  Senator,  I  agree  with 
you.  Go  to  Stanton  and  tell  him  this  man  must 
be  released." 


Statue  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago. 


LINCOLN'S  CODE  OP  WAR  213 

Henderson  went  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  War.  Stanton  became  violently  angry,  and 
swore  that  he  would  permit  no  such  procedure. 

Vaughn  had  but  two  days  to  live,  and  Hender- 
son hastened  to  make  one  more  stand.  ,  After  sup- 
per he  went  to  the  White  House.  The  President 
was  in  his  office,  dressed  to  go  to  Ford's  Theatre, 
when  the  Senator  entered  and  told  of  the  meet- 
ing he  had  had  with  Stanton. 

Lincoln  turned  to  his  desk  and  wrote  a  few 
lines  on  an  official  sheet  of  paper.  As  he  handed 
it  to  Senator  Henderson  he  remarked:  "I  think 
that  will  have  precedence  over  Stanton." 

It  was  an  order  for  an  unconditional  release 
and  pardon — the  last  official  paper  ever  signed  by 
Abraham  Lincoln. 


Lincoln's   Code  of  War  and  the  Peace   Conference 
of  1899 

Aside  from  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves, 
history  has  recently  given  a  lofty  position  to  one 
of  Lincoln's  many  humane  acts,  which  shows  how 
truly  he  lived  and  labored  for  the  good  of  man- 
kind, and  how  greatly  he  honored  and  ennobled 
his  nation. 

Mr.  William  Stead,  in  a  letter  written  at  The 
Hague  during  the  International  Peace  Confer- 
ence, writes  on  June  1,  1899,  as  follows: 


214 


LINCOLN   IN  STORY 


"  CREDIT   TO   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

"  It  is  very  interesting  to  Americans  to  know 
that  in  the  historical  retrospect  with  which  Pro- 
fessor Martens  opened  his  case  for  the  Russian 
scheme,  he  attributed  the  original  initiative  of 
the  whole  movement  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose 
code  for  the  guidance  of  the  Federal  troops  dur- 
ing the  war  served  as  the  first  example  of  the 
effort  of  humanity  to  reduce  the  laws  of  war 
within  reasonable  limits." 


Stone  presented  to  the  President  by  citizens  of  Eome,  Italy.* 


*  Translation  of  Inscription. — "  To  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President,  for  the  second  time,  of  the  American  Republic, 
citizens  of  Rome  present  this  stone,  from  the  wall  of  Servius 
Tullius,  by  which  the  memory  of  each  of  those  brave  assertors 
of  liberty  may  be  associated.     Anno  1865." 


CHAPTER    XIX 

AFTEEWAED 

Lincoln's  great  name  a  mantle  of  protection  to  all  Americans 
in  foreign  lands. 

Seveeal  years  after  Lincoln's  death  (1874) 
the  writer,  then  a  student  in  Germany,  was  travel- 
ing in  Switzerland.  Arriving  early  one  morning 
at  the  little  village  of  Thusis,  at  the  northern 
end  of  the  Via  Mala,  he  entered  an  inn  for  break- 
fast ;  as  he  seated  himself  at  a  table,  he  was  sur- 
prised and  delighted  to  notice  hanging  on  the  wall, 
directly  in  front  of  him,  a  fine  engraving  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

It  was  like  meeting  an  old  friend;  and  so  far 
away  from  America,  too,  in  that  little  place  among 
the  Alps  at  the  foot  of  high  mountains  which  are 
always  covered  with  snow.  The  first  thought  was, 
here  is  a  Swiss  gentleman  who  has  lived  in  the 
United  States,  and  has  brought  this  picture  back 
home  with  him.  So,  when  the  landlord  entered,  I 
said,  "  Excuse  me,  sir,  but  have  you  not  been  in 
the  United  States?" 

"  Xo,  indeed!  "  he  replied;  "  but  why  do  you 
ask?." 

215 


216  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

"  That  picture  of  Lincoln/'  I  said,  "  where  did 
you  get  it? " 

"  Oh,  that  picture !  "Why,  that  I  bought  at  Lu- 
cerne; it  is  the  only  one  in  this  canton  [county], 
and  I  would  not  sell  it  for  forty  gulden!  "  he  ex- 
claimed. 

Now  thoroughly  interested,  I  again  asked: 

"  What  made  you  buy  it?  " 

He  answered  very  earnestly,  "  Because  I  loved 
the  man  and  his  principles.  He  was  a  great 
man." 

"  Were  you  ever  in  America? "  he  then 
said. 

"  Oh,  yes !     I  am  an  American,"  I  replied. 

"  What !  A  native-born  American  !  "  he  ex- 
claimed, reaching  out  his  hand.  "  Give  me  your 
hand.  I  am  proud  to  meet  a  countryman  of  the 
great  Lincoln,"  he  continued.  "  Now  you  must 
stay  with  me  and  let  me  show  you  the  points  of  in- 
terest about  here." 

"  I  thank  you,"  said  I,  "  but  I  don't  like  to 
take  up  your  time." 

"  It  will  be  a  pleasure  to  me  to  devote  the  day 
to  an  American,"  he  answered.  "  Now,  there  are 
those  beautiful  ruins  up  on  the  mountain  yonder 
which  were  built  many  hundred  years  before 
Christ  was  born,  and  I  know  the  only  path  by 
which  to  climb  up  to  them.  I  will  go  with  you,  and 
from  that  high  mountain  I  can  show  you  the  an- 


LINCOLN'S  NAME  IN  FOREIGN  LANDS      217 

cient  watch-towers  all  along  up  the  valley,  which 
the  Romans  built  many  hundred  years  ago  for 
their  soldiers  to  occupy,  to  go  forth  and  fight  the 
barbarians." 

"  You  are  very  good  !  "  said  I,  "  and  since  your 
love  and  reverence  for  Abraham  Lincoln  has 
prompted  your  kindness,  in  his  name  I  will  thank 
you."  * 

So  presently  we  started,  and  I  enjoyed  one  of 
the  -happiest  and  most  profitable  days  of  my  entire 
journey,  because  I  was  a  countryman  of  the  good 
and  great  Lincoln. 

It  was  his  life  of  kind  deeds,  his  poverty  and 
struggle,  his  honesty  and  truthfulness,  and  his  final 
death  for  the  cause  of  liberty  and  Union  of  the 
States,  which,  away  off  there,  thousands  of  miles 
from  America,  had  won  for  me  this  generous  hos- 
pitality. The  little  incident  shows  that  a  single 
character  may  ennoble  and  glorify  a  nation;  a  sin- 
gle name,  like  magic,  secure  consideration  and  pro- 
tection to  a  race. 

*  Excerpt  from  an  address  delivered  at  Packard's  Business 
College,  New  York  City,  1895. 


APPENDIX 


BATTLES     AND     GREAT    EVENTS    OF    THE    CIVIL 
WAR,  ARRANGED   IN  CHRONOLOGICAL   ORDER 

1861 

April  12th. — Firing  on  Fort  Sumter. 

July  21st. — Battle  of  Bull  Run  and  terrible  defeat  of 
the  Union  army  under  General  McDowell. 

August  10th. — Battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,  Mo. ;  defeat 
of  the  Union  army  under  General  Lyon,  and  his  death. 

October  21st.— Battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  2,000  Union 
troops  beaten  by  a  large  force  of  Confederates. 

1862 

February  6th. — Fort  Henry,  Ky.,  captured  by  the 
Union  army  under  General  U.  S.  Grant  with  the  aid  of 
gunboats  on  the  Tennessee  River. 

February  16th. — Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Tennessee 
River,  in  Kentucky,  surrendered  to  General  Grant. 

March  5th,  6th,  and  7th.— Battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  Mo., 
and  victory  of  the  Union  army  under  General  Samuel 
R.  Curtis.  (Generals  Franz  Si  gel  and  Alexander  S. 
Asboth  and  Colonels  Jefferson  C.  Davis  and  Eugene  A. 
Carr,  division  commanders.) 

March  8th.— The  Monitor,  the  first  armored  vessel 
with  guns  in  a  revolving  turret,  built  by  Ericsson,  dis- 
218 


APPENDIX  219 

abled  the  monster  iron-clad  ram,  the  Merrimac,  with 
which  the  Confederates  the  day  before  had  sunk  two 
United  States  ships  of  war — the  frigate  Congress  and 
sloop  Cumberland. 

April  6th  and  7th. — The  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing, 
where  defeat  was  turned  into  a  victory  for  the  Union 
army  under  General  Grant's  command. 

April  8th. — Surrender  of  Island  Number  10  in  the 
Mississippi  River  to  Commodore  Foote,  after  nearly  a 
month's  obstinate  fighting. 

April  24th. — A  fleet  of  United  States  war-ships  under 
Admiral  Farragut  successfully  pass  the  Confederate 
forts  guarding  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  city  of 
New  Orleans. 

April  25th. — Occupation  of  New  Orleans  by  the 
Union  army  under  General  Butler. 

June  25th  to  July  6th. — Battles  lasting  seven  days 
about  Richmond  under  General  McClellan.  Defeat  and 
retreat  of  the  Union  Army  of  the  Potomac ;  the  last 
day,  at  Malvern  Hill,  General  Lee  is  driven  back  with 
heavy  loss. 

July  2d.— The  President  calls  for  300,000  men  to 
serve  three  years. 

August  4th.— The  President  again  calls  for  300,000 
men  for  nine  months'  special  service. 

August  16th. — McClellan  evacuates  Harrison's  Land- 
ing. 

August  29th  and  30th.— Second  battle  of  Bull  Run 
(Manassas)  and  defeat  of  the  Union  army  under  Gen- 
eral Pope. 

September  8th. — The  enemy  under  General  Lee  en- 
ters Maryland. 

September  15th. — The  Confederates  under  Stonewall 
Jackson  capture  Harper's  Ferry. 

September  17th. — Battle  of  Antietam  and  retreat  of 
the  Confederate  army  under  General  Lee. 


220  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

September  19th  and  20th. — Battle  of  Iuka,  Miss.,  and 
victory  of  the  Union  army  under  General  Rosecrans. 

September  22d. — The  President  announces  his  inten- 
tion to  issue  a  proclamation,  January  1st,  freeing  all  the 
slaves  in  Confederate  States  and  parts  of  States  then  in 
insurrection. 

October  3d  and  4th. — Battle  of  Corinth,  Miss.,  and 
victory  of  the  Union  army. 

October  8th. — Battle  of  Perryville,  Ky.,  and  defeat 
of  the  Confederate  army  under  General  Bragg. 

November  5th. — McClellan  relieved  and  General 
Burnside  placed  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. 

December  13th. — Battle  of  Fredericksburg  and  defeat 
of  the  Union  army  under  General  Burnside. 

December  27th  and  28th. — General  Sherman,  aided 
by  Admiral  Porter,  assaults  Vicksburg  unsuccessfully. 

December  31st  and  January  2d. — Battle  of  Murfrees- 
borough,  Tenn.,  and  victory  of  the  Union  army. 

1863 

January  1st. — Proclamation  of  Emancipation  by  the 
President,  giving  freedom  to  nearly  4,000,000  colored 
people  in  the  Confederate  States. 

January  1st. — The  French  Government  offers  to 
mediate  between  the  Confederates  and  the  United 
States.     The  offer  refused. 

April  1st.— Admiral  Farragut  with  three  gunboats 
passes  the  Confederate  forts  at  Grand  Gulf,  Miss. 

April  16th. — Admiral  Porter,  acting  in  conjunction 
with  General  Grant,  succeeds  in  passing  the  forts  and 
batteries  at  Vicksburg  at  night  on  the  Mississippi 
River. 

April  30th. — General  Grant  with  the  Union  army 
crosses  the  Mississippi  River  below  Vicksburg,  Miss. 


APPENDIX  221 

May  2d  and  3d.— Battle  of  Chancellorsville.  The 
Union  army  under  General  Hooker  badly  beaten  by 
General  Lee.     Death  of  Stonewall  Jackson. 

May  16th.— Battle  of  Champion  Hill,  Miss. 

May  18th. — Siege  of  Vicksburg  begun  by  the  army 
under  General  Grant. 

June  3d. — The  Confederate  army  under  General  Lee 
begins  its  march  through  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to  in- 
vade Pennsylvania. 

June  14th  and  15th. — Battle  of  Winchester  and  de- 
feat of  the  Union  army  by  the  Confederates  under  Gen- 
eral Ewell. 

June  24th  and  25th. — The  Confederate  army  crosses 
the  Potomac  River  to  invade  the  Northern  States. 

June  27th. — They  advance  to  within  thirteen  miles 
of  Harrisburg,  capital  of  Pennsylvania. 

June  27th. — General  Meade  appointed  commander 
of  the  Union  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

July  1st,  2d,  and  3d. — Battle  of  Gettysburg,  Pa. ;  de- 
feat of  the  Confederate  army  under  General  Lee  by  the 
Union  army. 

July  4th. — Capture  of  Vicksburg  by  General  Grant. 

July  8th. — Port  Hudson  surrenders  to  the  Union 
army  under  General  Banks. 

July  13th  to  16th.— Draft  riots  in  New  York  city. 

September  9th. — Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  occupied  by 
the  Union  army  under  General  Rosecrans. 

September  19th  and  20th. — Battle  of  Chickamauga ; 
General  Thomas  saves  the  Union  army  from  destruc- 
tion. 

September  17th.— The  President  calls  for  300,000  men 
for  three  years. 

November  23d,  24th,  and  25th.~ Battles  of  Chatta- 
nooga ("Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge"); 
great  victory  under  General  Grant.  General  Hooker's 
Battle  among  the  Clouds. 


222  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

November  29th. — The  Confederates  under  General 
Long-street  attempt  to  capture  Knoxville,  Tenn.  They 
fail  and  retreat. 

1864 

February  1st. — The  President  calls  for  500,000  men 
for  three  years. 

March  10th. — General  Grant  appointed  lieutenant- 
general  commanding-  all  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

May  4th. — General  Grant  advances  against  the 
enemy  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  (116,000),  cross- 
ing the  River  Rapidan  in  Virginia. 

May  5th  and  6th. — Battles  of  the  Wilderness  under 
General  Grant.  , 

May  5th. — General  Sherman's  army,  100,000  strong 
advances  from  Chattanooga. 

May  10th  and  12th.— Battle  of  Spottsylvania  Court- 
House  under  General  Grant. 

May  14th  and  15th. — Battle  of  Resaca  and  occupation 
by  the  Union  army. 

May  16th  to  18th. — Assault  on  Petersburg  (near 
Richmond,  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy)  under 
Grant. 

May  24th  to  31st. — Six  days'  fighting  around  New 
Hope  Church,  Ga.,  by  General  Sherman's  army  and 
Confederates  under  Generals  Joseph  E.  Johnston  and 
Hood. 

June  7th. — Lincoln  again  nominated  for  the  presi- 
dency by  the  Republican  party  at  Baltimore,  the  vote 
being  unanimous. 

June  19th. — The  United  States  war-ship  Kearsarge 
sinks  the  Confederate  cruiser  Alabama  off  the  coast  of 
France. 

June  27th. — Battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Ga.  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  army  repulsed. 

July  12th. — The  Confederates  under  General  Early 


APPENDIX  223 

try  to  capture  Washington.  They  are  repulsed  at  Fort 
Stevens,  only  six  miles  from  the  capital. 

July  11th. — One  dollar  of  gold  cost  $2.85  in  green- 
backs, the  highest  point  reached. 

July  22d. — General  Hood  assaults  the  Union  army 
under  Sherman  at  Atlanta.  Repulse  of  the  Confeder- 
ates.    Death  of  General  McPherson. 

August  5th  to  22d. — Commodore  Farragut's  great 
victory  in  Mobile  Bay,  and  destruction  of  the  Confed- 
erate ram  Tallahassee  and  other  ships.  With  the  assist- 
ance of  land  forces  under  General  Granger  he  captures 
Forts  Gaines,  Morgan,  and  Powell,  and  occupies  Mo- 
bile. 

September  2d. — Atlanta,  Ga.,  occupied  by  the  Union 
armies  under  General  Sherman,  after  a  siege  of  more 
than  a  month. 

September  19th. — Battle  of  Winchester,  Va. 

October  19th. — Confederates  make  a  raid  on  St.  Al- 
bans, Vt.,  from  Canada. 

November  8th. — Lincoln  re-elected  President. 

November  14th. — General  Sherman  burns  the  ma- 
chine-shops, foundries,  and  depots  of  Atlanta,  and  be- 
gins his  famous  "  march  to  the  sea."  Marching  through 
the  enemy's  country,  he  succeeds  in  reaching  Savannah, 
Ga.,  on  the  seacoast,  December  20th.  The  backbone  of 
the  rebellion  is  thus  broken. 

November  25th. — Confederate  incendiaries  try  to 
burn  New  York  city  ;  some  hotels  are  burned. 

December  13th. — Fort  McAllister,  at  Savannah,  Ga., 
captured  by  General  Sherman's  troops. 

December  15th  and  16th. — The  Union  army  under 
General  Thomas  defeats  the  Confederates  under  General 
Hood  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

December  25th. — Fort  Fisher,  N.  G,  unsuccessfully 
bombarded  by  General  Porter,  and  attacked  by  colored 
troops,  with  great  bravery,  under  General  Butler. 


224  LINCOLN  IN  STORY 

1865 

January  15th. — Fort  Fisher  captured  by  General 
Terry. 

February  1st. — General  Sherman  starts  northward. 

February  17th. — Charleston,  S.  C,  evacuated  and 
burned  by  the  Confederates  under  General  Hardee. 

February  18th.  —  Charleston  occupied  by  Union 
forces. 

March  4th. — Lincoln  inaugurated  President  the  sec- 
ond time. 

March  31st.— Battle  of  Five  Forks,  Va. 

April  2d. — Richmond,  capital  of  the  Confederacy, 
evacuated.  National  troops  save  the  city  from  destruc- 
tion by  fire. 

April  6th. — Confederates  under  General  Ewell,  8,000 
strong,  captured. 

April  9th. — General  Lee  surrenders  his  army  to  Gen- 
eral Grant  at  Appomattox. 

April  14th. — General  Sherman  occupies  Raleigh, 
capital  of  Georgia. 

April  14th. — The  Stars  and  Stripes  raised  again  over 
Fort  Sumter.     The  war  virtually  ended. 

The  President  shot  and  killed,  by  a  vain -glorious 
actor,  dying  at  half -past  seven  on  the  morning  of  April 
15th.  Universal  sorrow  of  the  people,  not  only  in 
America,  but  throughout  the  world. 

Note. — The  number  of  men  enlisted  in  the  civil  war  was 
2,326,168.  Of  this  number,  110,070  were  killed  and  died  of 
wounds,  and  199.720  died  from  disease,  making  a  total  of  309,- 
790  who  gave  their  lives  in  defense  of  the  Union.  About  the 
same  number  of  men  were  killed  in  the  Confederate  army.  The 
war  cost  $2,700,000,000. 

(2) 
THE   END 


